


Cabin Fever

by SubMeowchineGun



Series: It’s Always Sunny On Nuxena [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: F/M, Gen, I didn’t post it all at once bc I’m not a monster, I preemptively took canon around the back of the barn and put it out of its misery, NaNo 2017, Pellaeon shows up for a little bit at the very end, Thrawn out here being space Sherlocke Holmes, also a couple instances of people death, every OC has a name even if it doesn't get mentioned, set on a moon that is literally just Space Alaska, specifically space Borzoi, specifically that it will be similar to what happened in the original 90's Thrawn books, strills are just deadly space dogs, the "graphic depictions of violence" tag is for large amounts of blood more than anything else, there is an instance of animal death, this fic makes assumptions about Thrawn's fate in Rebels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-13 17:59:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 52,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12989466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SubMeowchineGun/pseuds/SubMeowchineGun
Summary: The entire galaxy thinks Mitth'raw'nuruodo died in a Rebel attack. Emperor Palpatine sends the injured Grand Admiral to the unremarkable and out-of-the-way moon of Nuxena to keep his survival a secret while he recovers. However, Nuxena isn't quite as unremarkable as everyone thinks, and Thrawn is pulled into a power-struggle with potentially deadly consequences.





	1. Started From the Bottom and Now We’re Here

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, I'd like to thank Owt_and_abowt for helping me edit this! I honestly expected myself to just give up halfway through NaNoWriMo, and I almost did a few times. So I hope I didn't butcher the characterization too badly, and that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
> 
> Updates Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, maybe even more if I get antsy.

The shuttle vibrated as it exited hyperspace, the movement just enough to jostle Thrawn awake. The bland ceiling of a standard single-person shuttle greeted him. He pushed himself up, tired muscles protesting as he rose from the thinly padded berth the shuttle provided. It wasn't intended for long-term use, and it certainly showed. He managed the few steps to the cockpit door and, once inside, braced himself against the back of the pilot seat. He ignored the astromech droid piloting the ship, instead examining the planet on the other side of the view-screen. It wasn't very large, and looked to be completely barren as far as he could tell. The information he'd gathered had said as much, but then, the planet, Zuri II, wasn't his destination.

Thrawn clenched his jaw as he settled himself into the seat, his left leg protesting the movement the transition required. The lack of space to move around that came with being in a tiny shuttle for a full day had him sore and restless. The shuttle rounded the planet, and a comparatively small moon came into view. It was noticeably lush, even from this distance, large blots of deep green showing no doubt massive forests. He let himself sink back into the the seat's padding, planting his elbows on the arm rests to steady himself as the shuttle entered atmosphere. The astromech chirped at him, signaling that they were approaching their destination. A carpet of trees hid wherever that was for now, their pointed tops passing far beneath them.

The clearing where they landed wasn't visible until the shuttle was practically on top of it. The droid smoothly decelerated, deftly lowering the ship into the small space. It was barely big enough for the ship to fit, and Thrawn could hear branches scraping against the hull until it finally touched down. The only thing visible in front of the shuttle was the very edge of the clearing immediately thickening into dense forest, the ground sloping upwards a few feet in. The clearing itself seemed to be mostly level, and it certainly made pulling himself out of the pilot's seat easier. The astromech had already rolled out of the cockpit, and he could hear the ship's ramp lowering as he left the cockpit. He paused in the sleeping area to grab the light bag he'd brought with him, then walked down the ramp to where the droid was waiting.

The rest of the clearing was identical to what Thrawn had already seen, save for a narrow dirt path leading out of it that created a break in the trees. He took his time walking down the ramp, partially because of the trouble his leg was giving him, and partially so he could thoroughly scan the area. The Emperor had officially, or rather _un_ officially, sent him here in secret, but Thrawn still hadn't managed to shake the paranoia that insisted he was walking into another ambush. The droid beeped something at him when he'd reached the bottom of the ramp and, once it was sure it had his attention, started down the path out of the clearing. It bounced slightly over the uneven terrain, going slowly and turning its dome every so often to make sure he was following. The astromech wasn't the model standard to the Imperial military, and was instead one fairly common for civilian use, much like the shuttle.

This was all to facilitate the secrecy of his arrival and whereabouts since, according to official records, he had been killed in a rebel ambush a little over two weeks ago. At least, that was the official story as it had been told to him. He didn't remember much of what had happened after a certain point, but he had nearly died and sustained injuries that even a week and a half in a bacta tank hadn't completely healed. The Emperor had kept his survival a closely guarded secret, and apparently removed him from bacta earlier than was ideal in order to keep any possible rebel spies from discovering his survival. Thrawn had then been unceremoniously shipped off to an out of the way, nearly unheard of moon orbiting a barren planet.

The Emperor may have been arranging this all under the guise of stacking the future odds against the rebellion, but Thrawn hadn't gotten to be a Grand Admiral by being blindly trusting of his superiors. He knew that it was all actually a thinly veiled punishment. The Emperor was displeased with Thrawn’s failure to crush the rebellion, and had taken the opportunity that the situation had created. He was likely fully aware that Thrawn understood exactly what this all really was, not that it mattered. It was unclear whether or not this was one of the Emperor’s elaborate mind games, and Thrawn couldn’t be sure he would survive his stay here. Regardless, there wasn't much he could do about it in his current state. It would take at least another month for him to be healed enough to begin putting any plans he made into use and, until then, he could only be vigilant.

Thrawn nearly ran into the now stationary astromech, and realized that his mind had been drifting during the walk. The path had now opened into another clearing, this one occupied by a small cabin. It didn't seem very old, but had been there long enough that it was overgrown, with a mostly clear stone path leading to the door. There was another, smaller outbuilding, standing separate from the main structure. It had a large pile of wood stacked up against it, and sported an overhead rolling door. The door’s opening faced away from the cabin and towards a wider dirt path, big enough for a small speeder. This path disappeared into the trees, and presumably connected to another road.

The droid had jolted forward a little when Thrawn had almost tripped over it, and whooped loudly. It rolled away from him towards the cabin, quietly complaining the whole way. Thrawn watched it go, sedately following it to stand under the small overhang that sheltered the door. It was a manual door that he hadn't been given the key to, and evidently the droid didn't have it either, as its dome was spinning back and forth while it grumbled in binary. Thrawn took a step back to observe the entire front of the cabin. The roof ended in a dramatic point, and reached all the way to the ground in place of the usual walls on either side. The more traditional wall the door was on had a small window on either side, with sturdy looking shutters closed over them.

He looked back down when the droid buzzed in frustration, rolling away from where it had been examining the door to look at Thrawn expectantly. He looked the door over himself again, then his gaze was drawn to the stone path directly in front of it, on which a worn mat with writing on it sat. 'WELCOME' it proclaimed with bold lettering, faded from age and the elements. _Really,_ Thrawn thought, and knelt down with a wince to flip a corner of the mat up. A key was laying there, placed in the gap between two stones to allow it to lay flush when the mat covered it. He stared at it disbelievingly for a moment. He took it and replaced the mat, slowly standing with a grunt as his leg twinged in protest. The droid watched him with a disbelieving air, though Thrawn wasn’t usually the kind of person to personify droids. He tried the key with the door's lock, and it slid in easily, turning smoothly as he unlocked the door.

The door opened to a dark room, thin beams of light slipping in around the windows shutters. It was obvious that the cabin hadn't been occupied recently; a thin layer of dust coated the floor he could see and the air that flowed out smelled old and mildly musty. While Thrawn stood in the doorway taking this in, the astromech beeped impatiently behind him. He glanced at it with a raised brow,  but nonetheless stepped aside to let it roll past him and inside. It disappeared confidently into the darkness, and he heard its tread roll over wooden floors, the change in sound indicating it had entered another room.

Thrawn stepped inside himself, feeling the wall by the door for a switch. He found it easily, and hit it, flooding the room with light. Now that he could see, he stepped in further, closing the door behind him. He was standing in a small kitchen tucked into the corner, the space past it divided in half by a large bookcase. There were comfortable looking chairs and a sofa on either side of the room, and against the far wall a well-used wood stove. There was also another door and two windows, larger but still shuttered as the others had been. Upon further investigation, the bookcase was smaller than he'd originally thought, tucked under a set of stairs to an upper level. He had the sneaking suspicion that it led to the bedroom, which was confirmed when the last door, just next to the kitchen, led to a 'fresher.

It didn't surprise him at all that the Emperor would send him, a man with a rather serious leg injury, someplace where he'd be required to climb stairs daily. At least the stairs had railings, unlike the catwalks of literally every Imperial ship he'd ever been on. Thrawn ignored the small twinge as he shifted the bag to his left shoulder, grabbing the railing with his good arm as he started to climb. The staircase wasn't very tall, but his leg still viciously protested the extended use and he grit his teeth at the unpleasant sensation. Instead of a door at the top of the staircase, there was an open loft. The sloped walls were much more dramatic this close to the apex of the roof and, beneath another shuttered window, a bed was centered against the wall.

Despite sleeping for much of the trip, Thrawn was exhausted. Though he shouldn't have been so surprised; he hadn't been out of the bacta for a full day before he was herded into a shuttle and sent off. There hadn't been much to do besides rest on the trip, but the shuttle had lacked more than a very basic 'fresher, and he could tell he needed a shower. On the other hand, between even the short distance he'd walked today and climbing the stairs here, he was almost completely out of energy. The bed was made and, despite the dust, looked very comfortable and inviting. Right now, the prospect of having to climb the stairs again after bathing was too difficult a task.

He set his bag on the floor in front of the bed, then nearly melted when he sat down to take off his boots. The bed was in fact _very_ comfortable, and almost made up for the fact that he'd be climbing stairs every day for as long as he was here. He slipped off his boots, not bothering to right them when they fell over. He also didn't bother changing out of the plain shirt and pants he was wearing, instead just pulling back the sheets and bed cover so he could slide under them. He was out within a minute, the last thing he heard was the sound of the astromech rolling around downstairs.

 

* * *

 

When Thrawn woke up, the room was almost totally dark. A few thin, pale rays of light made it through the window and it was just enough for him to make out shapes and vague details. Out of habit, he looked to where his comm would usually be, sitting on top of his nightstand. Of course it wasn't there, because he wasn’t in his quarters on the _Chimaera_ , or in any of the standard temporary Officers quarters on a base. He pulled himself up, stretching until he could reach his bag, and dug his comm out of it. Then he realized it hadn't yet been adjusted to local time and he put it back with a soft sigh. He did know that he'd slept for around twelve hours, so it was most likely sometime early in the morning. Whatever time it was, he was too awake to go back to sleep. He used the bed to lever himself up, shivering when even his socks weren’t enough to keep out the chill emanating from the floorboards.

Now that he was up the entire room was cold, and likely the rest of the cabin was too. He pushed his feet into his boots, then carefully made his way downstairs. The lights had been turned off, and in the corner next to the wood stove the astromech was plugged into a charging socket in the wall. It was even colder down here, and Thrawn could feel goosebumps rising on his bare arms. His left arm was beginning to numbly tingle from shoulder to fingers, and he rubbed his right hand up and down it absently. He was sure that he'd seen some kind of storage closet yesterday. Sure enough, there was a closet by the kitchen and in it was a heavy winter coat, along with a few lighter ones. They were all a little big, but better that than too small. He grabbed the next to heaviest one, and almost immediately felt himself warming after he pulled it on.

A more detailed exploration than yesterday revealed a pantry stocked with dry and canned goods. In the kitchen was a working sink, an electric stove and oven, and a small refrigerator; the cabinets had a set of mismatched tableware and well-used pots and pans, along with a dented stove-top kettle. It seemed like the wood stove was the only heating system the cabin had and he would have to make a trip to the pile by the outbuilding to warm the cabin. For now, Thrawn filled the kettle with water, setting it on one of the stove's burners to boil. While he waited, he looked over the bookcase. It was an oddly eclectic collection, and wasn't organized with any kind of system as far as he could tell. He did find an old analog clock on one of the shelves, its arms indicating that it was currently a little after five in the morning. If he remembered correctly, the moon's summer season had recently ended, and its heavy winter was creeping closer every day. That certainly explained the cold, though he hoped that he'd be more settled before winter truly set in.

The water still wasn't boiling, and Thrawn had wasted enough time. The entire cabin would be much more hospitable if it was warmer, not to mention easier on his injuries. He walked over to the droid, still in standby charging, and gently knocked twice on its dome. A few seconds later, its optics lit up, audibly focusing as it looked around then settled on him.

“Come with me,” Thrawn ordered, not waiting for a confirmation before he started walking. It chirped, unplugging itself and following him to the front door. Thrawn opened it, and had to stop to adjust to the sudden influx of cold air. It only took a few moments, and then he was leading the droid down the pathway and over to the stack of firewood. The droid easily kept up with his slow pace, and was grumbling in binary again, this time about the cold. When they got there, he gathered a bundle of wood, and turned to the droid.

“Take this inside,” Thrawn told it. The astromech considered the wood  in his arms for a moment. Then  a pair of panels opened on either side of its chassis, manipulator arms extending from them to form a cradle for the wood. He set the wood into it, and the droid was off, rolling back to the cabin. This time he grabbed a more modest bundle for himself, trying to avoid putting strain on his leg. By the time he'd made it back inside, the droid had dumped the wood into a bin by the wood stove and the kettle was just starting to steam and whistle.

He added his firewood to the bin, then dug a tin of instant caf and a mug out of the cabinets. The mug was chipped on one side, with a picture of rolling grassy plains printed on it. He opened a few drawers before he found a spoon and, after turning off the stove, poured the boiling water over a few spoonfuls of the dark powder. It dissolved quickly after some light stirring and he carried the steaming mug with him as he walked back to the wood stove. He set the mug on top of it while he grabbed a few logs from the bin, opening the hinged grate and arranging them inside the stove. He looked around and found a box of matches sitting on the nearby windowsill. The wood was exceptionally dry, easily catching off a single match. He closed the grate and retrieved his mug, settling into the armchair positioned in front of the wood stove. He took a sip as the fire grew, the warmth already spreading from the connected vent on top to the rest of the cabin.

While he drank his caf, he watched the droid putter aimlessly around the cabin. It made a circuit around the first floor, chirping quietly in a way that almost mimicked someone talking under their breath to themselves. Between the caf and the fire, the coat Thrawn was wearing was starting to get uncomfortable, so he set his mug down to shrug out of it. Meanwhile, the droid had finally stopped its wandering, having pulled open the pantry door to dig through the shelves. Thrawn sneezed suddenly, his movement having stirred up a cloud of dust from the armchairs cushion. Now reminded of the state of the cabin, he considered where to start. At the very least, everything would need to be wiped down and aired out; the cabin's air still had an almost stale quality to it, though it was a little better now than it had been. Other than the layer of dust, the cabin's interior was neat and clean. Once it had warmed up outside, he could open the windows and shutters to let in some fresh air. Already he could hear the local wildlife, bird calls echoing in the stillness of the morning.

Thrawn was effectively startled out of his thoughts when the droid tugged insistently at his pants leg. He hadn't noticed it come up to him, only narrowly avoiding spilling his caf. It beeped impatiently at him, holding out a box of something to him and shaking it when he didn't immediately take it. Once he did, it sat just there staring at him; he looked the box over, finding that it was some kind of grain meal. The reminder of food made his stomach simultaneously nauseous and demanding. The last thing he'd eaten was a dry and unappetizing ration bar on the shuttle, at this point nearly a full day ago. The astromech was still staring at him, almost expectantly.

Thrawn drank the last of his caf, then set the box and the empty mug on the flat top of the astromech's dome, pushing himself up using both arms. The droid rumbled its displeasure at him and, once he'd picked the mug and box back up, zipped ahead of him into the kitchen with an electronic huff. It watched him from the opposite corner of the kitchen as he filled a pot with water, pouring some of the meal in after the water started to boil. The droid followed him back to the chair after he'd transferred the food to a bowl to eat, sitting and watching him again. He watched it right back, raising an eyebrow at the frankly excessive amount of attention he was being paid. With another rumble, though it was softer this time, the droid wheeled back into the corner it had been in earlier. It settled itself there, optics dimming as it switched into standby.

Thrawn continued to observe it as he ate. The droid looked to be an older R5 model, its mostly off-white body broken up by green details, which explained the quirks he'd seen so far. They needed to be routinely wiped, more so than was usual for astromechs, to keep them from developing the idiosyncrasies all droids were prone to. Even then, R5's had a bad habit of quickly becoming surly and uncooperative, and it seemed like this one hadn't been wiped in a good while. That would definitely be something to keep an eye on. He had to force himself to finish the bowl; he'd been informed, once he was out of bacta, that he'd had a gaping hole in his abdomen, and had lost a part of of his stomach. The bacta had sealed everything up, but he'd be forcing himself to be certain he ate enough for a good while.

Thrawn put the bowl in the sink, next to the mug and pot he'd used. The cabin was comfortably warm now and the light that made it past the shutters was brighter than it had been. The clock on the bookcase said it was now almost seven, though it didn't feel like it had been that long. He ran a hand through his hair, grimacing at how dirty it felt. It was definitely time for the shower he'd been too tired to take yesterday.


	2. Deathcab For Meet-Cutie

Thrawn spent a few restless days in the cabin, in need of some kind of distraction, but lacking anything to really do. After he'd bathed and changed into fresh clothes, it had finally been warm enough outside for him to open all the windows and air the cabin out. Then he'd spent a few hours getting rid of most of the dust, taking frequent breaks for his arm and leg. Partway through, the droid had come out of standby and started helping him. It was midday when they'd finished and again the droid prodded him until he ate something. This behavior was repeated that evening, then again over the next few days. It quickly became a routine, one that seemed unnecessary to him, but that the droid insisted on. 

Once the cabin was clean however, the days turned monotonous. Thrawn’s datapad only had information about the moon and, by the end of the second day, he'd memorized the majority of it. He'd then turned to the books in the cabin, searching the variety for something to read. The only book that had caught his interest was short enough that he'd finished it within a day. The day after that he'd just wandered aimlessly around the cabin, trying to stretch his legs without overtaxing his injury. He would have liked to have become more familiar with the immediate area around the cabin, but the furthest he managed so far before tiring was to investigate the outbuilding. He'd a found a speeder inside, old but in working order, and made a note of it.

According to the information on his datapad, there was a small town nearby: Nuxena, settled to provide the necessary amenities to the workers at the mining operation on the moon. Thrawn felt like he had a bit more energy today and the cabin's pantry had only been very lightly stocked. He would have to go into town at some point for food if nothing else. He'd need warmer clothes soon too, the small bag he'd brought only containing lighter ones suitable for warm weather. Thankfully, he'd been given more than enough credits to obtain supplies for the next year at least, even if he didn't plan on being here that long. If his calculations were right, he could reach the town in less than an hour, and it was currently only a little before midday. The weather was still mild, with just a small bite to the breeze, and it would be worth it to get more supplies before it actually became urgent.

He pulled on one of the lighter coats in the closet, the droid following him out the door. It chirped questions at him in binary as he locked the cabin, pocketing the key. He pulled out the other set he'd found inside that went to the speeder, and the droid kept following him, loudly beeping its questions again when he didn't answer quickly enough. It wove in front of him, nearly tripping him a few times on the way to the outbuilding, and Thrawn fixed it with an icy glare that had cowed more than one disobedient officer into submission over the years. It seemed to work on droids too because it went silent and rolled forward to wait for him by the overhead door. It sank down on its struts as he unlocked the door, pulling it up and out of the way with a grunt. He looked at it, the entirety of its body language managing to convey its sulking, and heaved a sigh through his nose. 

“What is your designation?” Thrawn finally asked. He expected it to stay silent, or to answer with the usual string of a serial number. Instead, it beeped back something closer to a nickname. He looked down at it and hummed in thought.

“We are going into town for supplies, Forks,” he told it. Forks perked up, rolling up to the speeder and boosting itself in, while it buzzed about how bored it had been. Thrawn watched it go, eyebrows raised. Forks was proving to be as eccentric as he knew Hera Syndulla's droid to be, and he only hoped that it didn't prove to be as destructive. Forks beeped at him impatiently, wiggling to seat itself more firmly, and he walked around to the drivers side, climbing in. The speeder was older, but well maintained, sturdier looking than was usual, with a squared roof and windows shielding the seats from the elements. It started with only mild hesitation and its repulsors slowly raised it about a  foot off the ground. He took it far enough out of the building to be able to close the door and Forks vibrated impatiently while he got out to do so. He had to reach with both arms to pull the door back down, and Thrawn could feel his left arm tingling and trying to go numb. After the initial tug, the rest of the door slid down easily, and he let it drop closed. 

He studied the very basic map on his datapad again, then set it aside, driving onto the dirt path and away from the cabin. Supposedly, there weren't any roads branching off from the one they were on and the road into town that it connected to was much larger. It was a peaceful drive; the only thing to be seen in any direction was trees, since the road curved just enough to block anything further ahead than a few hundred feet. Just like at the cabin, birds could be heard in the trees, with the addition of a slight echo. The trees bent just over the edges of the road and the shadows they cast swayed in a light breeze. It only took ten minutes to reach the main road, which was less than he'd been expecting. 

This road was indeed larger, and had clearly seen more use than the one leading to the cabin. There were only traces of grass and underbrush at the very edges, whereas on the cabin road it had grown almost all the way across, save a thin stripe down the middle. He turned onto it, checking the datapad one last time to make sure he was going the right way. The location where the mining was taking place was north of Nuxena, which by nature of being the only bit of civilization in the entire system, shared its name with the moon it was located on. The road to the cabin was between the mine and the town, the cabin itself settled at the base of a small mountain. A few minutes down the main road, another smaller one split off from it. It looked like it went in the direction of the same mountain the cabin was next to, but he didn't remember seeing it on the map. It would figure that the information he'd been given would be out of date, not that there was much to do about it now.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. Thrawn was pleased to see that, like the travel time down the cabin road, it also took less time than he'd anticipated to get to town. Nuxena was what you would expect from a small mining town. Just outside of the town proper was what could barely be called a spaceport; just a large duracrete slab that might be able to fit a smaller cargo ship. Directly next to it was fuel depot, just as unimpressive as the spaceport. Nuxena itself consisted of a paved main street lined with buildings, intersected partway through by a narrower road that led to a few small houses on either side. The main buildings consisted of a grocery and general store, a tiny diner on a corner, a cantina opposite it, and a surprisingly advanced communications terminal. There were some more things across the intersection; a clothing store next to a mechanics and repair shop, and on the other side a medical clinic next to a book and electronics store, advertising up-to-date news in their front window.

There were two other speeders parked along the main road, in spaces in front of the building. They both looked similar to his own, one in front of the general store, the other by the cantina. After a moment of contemplation, Thrawn prioritized stopping at the general store. The cabin's pantry was almost bare; and warmer clothing could wait until another trip if he couldn't manage it today, which was likely. He parked his speeder in front of the general store, closer to the edge of town to put a comfortable distance between it and the other speeder parked there. Forks jumped out before he'd even turned the speeder off, practically bouncing as it crossed in front of it to reach the cracked sidewalk. By the time he'd climbed out, Forks was already rolling away, whistling something to itself. Thrawn looked up sharply when the whistle abruptly stopped, along with the sound of Forks moving. 

The droid had stopped a few yards away from the entrance to the general store, stock-still and staring at a creature. Cautiously, Thrawn moved closer, until he was close enough to see exactly what it was. It appeared to be a strill, oddly enough. its fur was longer than normal, and a dark golden color. He could just make out a dark blue band of something around its neck, half-buried under its fur and long flabs of skin. It has barely glanced at him as he walked up, returning its attention to the general store's door as it stared forlornly at it. Forks inched backwards, looking up at him and whirring uncertainly. He was just contemplating whether or not it was safe to go past it and enter the store, when the door opened, a tiny bell attached to the top of it jingling with the motion. The strill was immediately on all six of its feet, wiggling with its entire body as it barely restrained itself from leaping all over the person who'd just come out.

“Yes, I'm back!” the tiny human woman who'd come out of the store exclaimed, and the second she'd spoken, the strill leaped forward. It only needed to prop its front set of legs against her own to stick its pointed snout into her face, and she avoided its lolling tongue with an ease that belied lots of practice.

“No, Kiran, down,” she ordered in an exasperated tone, and the strill obediently removed itself, instead winding around her legs. She adjusted a bag that was propped against her hip, finally looking up and noticing Thrawn as Kiran stopped to lean against her. She seemed startled for a moment, freezing and blinking at him wordlessly. Then something seemed to click, and her face shifted from surprised to a friendly smile.

“Ah! I was wondering when you'd show up!” she said, as if she expected him to know what she was talking about. He kept his face carefully blank, raising a single questioning eyebrow while subtly tensing. Her smile faltered slightly, and her brows furrowed for a split second. Then she was shifting her bag to her left side.

“Oh, right, sorry. I'm Liryn Morastus, I've been expecting you,” she explained, sticking out her right hand to shake. Thrawn paused, trying to place the familiar sounding name. Once he did, he relaxed and grasped her outstretched hand, shaking it politely. 

“Yes, I'm afraid I was only familiar with your name, and not your appearance, Governor Morastus,” Thrawn replied as he automatically straightened into his usual military stance, hands clasped behind him, while Liryn's eyes widened owlishly. Then she released his hand, giving a small snort of laughter as she hitched her bag up further from where it had begun to slip.

“Oh, wow,” Liryn started, “I guess I technically  _ am _ the Governor of Nuxena. Sorry, it's just that no one really calls me that. The most formal thing I tend to get around here is a 'Ms. Morastus' from the managers up at the mine.” She let out an actual short laugh this time. Thrawn was forced to shift out of his stance when his shoulder and leg began to twinge. 

“I see,” Thrawn said. Part of the information on his datapad had been the details of his cover story, which was that he was a civilian accountant hired by the Governor to go over the moon's profits from the mining operation. This was of course only to explain away his presence for any curious inhabitants.

“You can just call me Liryn, everyone else here does,” she said, then glanced up and down the empty street. 

“They didn't tell me much, just to be expecting someone,” Liryn said, in a serious voice pitched so it wouldn't carry, “I don't know what exactly happened, but you'll be safe here, as long as you need to stay. People here generally don't pry, and you should already have my comm info, in case you need something.” Thrawn looked down at her serious expression, and realized how young she looked to be a Governor of even a small, out of the way moon. She couldn't have been older than twenty-five, and her slight frame and height made her appear to be even younger. He considered her for a moment more.

“You can call me Thrawn,” he finally said, “I'll keep your offer in mind.” Liryn's serious expression relaxed, and she nodded.

“You're at the cabin at the base of the mountain, right?” she asked, and waited until he nodded to continue. 

“I'm just a little further up and around the mountain, so don't be surprised if you see Kiran around,” she patted the strill on the head, and he preened at the attention, “It's close enough that it's part of his territory, and he patrols every so often to keep bears and other wild animals away.” At the mention of bears, Forks let out an alarmed squawk, and Kiran's ears pinned back at the sudden loud noise. He eyed Forks with a predatory gaze, and the droid warbled, zipping behind Thrawn for protection.

“ _ Kiran _ ,” Liryn scolded the strill, and he ducked his head, sneaking a last measuring look at what he could see of Forks, who was now peeking around Thrawn's legs.

“Well, you don't need to worry about the local wildlife too much. The cabin's close enough to town and the mine that they usually stay away, but there's always those few brave or curious ones.” She let out a small huff as Kiran leaned into her even more, almost unbalancing her. “ _ Anyway _ , I'll stop talking your ear off and let you get back to what you were doing.” She walked the few feet to the other speeder in front of the store, Kiran practically glued to her side as she put the bag into the back seat. She opened the driver's door, and he jumped over the seat and into the passenger side. Liryn turned to him again, still standing by the speeder's open door.

“It was nice meeting you, Thrawn. I know it's probably not your first choice, but I hope you enjoy your stay here,” she said, a wry grin on her face. 

“It was nice to meet you as well, Liryn,” Thrawn replied, giving her a small nod. She gave him a little wave, climbing into the speeder and leaving the same way he'd come. He and Forks watched the speeder until it turned a bend, passing out of sight. Thrawn wondered how someone so young had come to run a mining outpost in the middle of nowhere. She lacked the core-world accent nearly every person of similar or notable rank he'd met had. She also didn't seem like the ruthless kind of person she would have to be, to have worked to attain this position so young. He narrowed his eyes at the place her speeder had disappeared as he thought, only pulling himself out of it when Forks nudged his good leg. The droid rolled into the general store once it was sure it had gotten his attention, and Thrawn gently shook his head, following Forks inside. He had plenty of time to puzzle out the odd circumstances of Liryn Morastus.

The only other person in the store was a human man, wearing an apron and stocking a shelf. He saw Thrawn come in, and certainly seemed curious, but simply greeted him and went back to what he was doing. Forks was already speeding down another aisle, clinging to the small cart it was pushing with its manipulators. Thrawn was almost getting tired just watching the droid, and much more sedately walked down one of the food aisles. Once it realized that Thrawn was actually in the store, Forks abruptly turned, sliding around a corner and nearly into a shelf. The worker looked up in alarm at the sound of Forks' treads squealing on the tile, looking at Forks and Thrawn both in confusion. 

Forks looked ready to run full-tilt down the aisle to reach Thrawn, but he was ready. As the droid slid to stop, and before it could start moving again, Thrawn leveled it with the most unimpressed, unamused look he could manage. Forks stopped cold, the rev of its motivator as it prepared to move cutting out abruptly. It let out a quiet, repentant beep, sinking down on its treads as it rolled to him at an exaggerated sluggish pace. Thrawn couldn't help rolling his eyes at its melodrama, then began looking over the shelves. Forks followed him obediently as he moved through the aisles, picking out filling and easily prepared things with long shelf lives. He also grabbed some basic toiletries and some supplemental vitamins; it didn't pay to take chances, especially when he already knew that he wasn't going to be able to eat as much as he should. 

Forks was thankfully still behaving when he'd finished, following him up to the counter with only a minimal amount of sulking. The worker had finished what he'd been doing, sometime before Thrawn had finished shopping, and looked up with with a friendly smile as he approached.

“Find everything alright?” he asked as he began ringing up the items from the cart, bagging them as he went.

“Yes,” Thrawn answered, short but still polite. His earlier estimation had been correct: he was exhausted and more than ready to go back to the cabin and rest. Forks rumbled something rude very quietly. Thrawn paid, and set the heavier of the two bags on the flat top of Forks' dome in retaliation. The droid beeped indignantly, but didn't try to dislodge it. Thrawn picked up the other bag himself, leading the way out.

“Have a nice day!” the worker said as they walked away.

“Thank you,” Thrawn replied, giving the man a brief nod of acknowledgment as he left. He put both bags into the speeder's back seat, climbing in and waiting for Forks to get into the passenger side. The drive back to the cabin felt longer than it had when they'd been coming into town. Again, he noticed the road that had been absent from the map. There weren't any other roads branching off this one, besides his own, so presumably this road led to Liryn's own cabin. Like his own, it curved, making the other end impossible to see. He continued past it, turning onto the road that led to his cabin. It was just past noon, the entire trip there and back having taken almost an hour and a half. He stopped the speeder in front of the outbuilding and, when he climbed out to open it, Forks jumped out too. While he was lifting the door, Forks pulled both bags out of the speeder. The droid placed the lighter one on top of its dome itself, and carried the other with its manipulator arms, moving as smoothly as it could toward the cabin. 

It was waiting at the door when Thrawn had parked the speeder and closed the overhead door again, bouncing a little as it waited. Thrawn himself sagged a little in relief at being back in the now familiar surroundings of the cabin. He took both bags from Forks, placing them on one of the kitchen counters. Then he headed upstairs, ignoring the droid beeping at him about eating something; right now, a nap was sounding very appealing.


	3. Don’t Feed the Bears

Hunger woke him late in the evening, forcing Thrawn to drag himself downstairs. He was only up for as long as it took him to eat a small meal, then he was back upstairs again and out until the next day. Forks was much more aggressive about forcing a meal on him once he'd woken up, even going so far as to blare an alarm at full volume when he didn't immediately get something to eat. The sudden, painfully loud sound had startled him more than he'd like to admit. The droid had hovered at his elbow for the rest of the day like some kind of mother hen. After he'd turned and nearly tripped over it for what had to be nearing the thirtieth time, he finally snapped.

“Forks,” Thrawn began, the restrained irritation clear in his tone, “Stop following me _literally_ everywhere.” It started to protest and he swiftly cut it off.

“If you keep this up, I'm liable to trip over you and break my neck,” he nearly hissed. It didn't try to say anything else, and he took a deep, calming breath. The droid was only sitting there, staring up at him with an indecipherable expression. When did he start thinking of it as having expressions? Or having emotions at all? He shook his head with a gentle sigh.

“Just – go charge,” Thrawn told it, tiredly rubbing a hand over his face. Forks was still for a moment. Then without a sound, it rolled to the charging port it had been using, settling into place next to the wood stove. its optics slowly dimmed, and ambient sounds of its internal fans quieted as it went into standby. The rest of the day, Thrawn didn't have to worry every time he changed direction, and while it was strange after being near constantly hounded by Forks for the past week, it was also refreshingly peaceful. The next few days, Forks continued to give him space, only bothering him if it seemed like he was in danger of forgetting a meal. There were, thankfully, no more sudden blaring alarms, and things settled back into a routine.

Over the next week, Thrawn went into town twice more. Once, to peruse the book store, ending up with a few physical books, as well as a number of datapads. There was more than enough room on the bookcase, and otherwise he was relegated to sitting around the cabin, or bird watching, if some of them happened into sight. Both had grown old very quickly and, even if his injuries hadn't killed him, he feared the boredom would. The second trip had been to the clothing store, where he'd gotten a sturdy pair of boots more suited to Nuxena's winters, and several pairs of socks, pants, and shirts. The busiest he'd seen the town was later in the evening, when a group of miners had been entering the cantina. They hadn't even noticed him, too absorbed in their conversation. He hadn't seen Liryn again either time, and had yet to see her strill at the cabin.

Forks had taken to retrieving firewood before Thrawn had even woken up, apparently to give him no excuse to linger in bed during the increasingly cold mornings and thus stray from the eating schedule the droid had taken upon itself to establish. On a particularly chilly day, Thrawn was jolted awake by a sudden loud noise. He shot up in bed, still half-asleep as he looked around for the source, blinking aggressively to clear his vision from the effects of sleep. The sound, now clearly the panicked scream of a droid, sounded from outside, followed closely by the sound of metal impacting the ground.

Thrawn jumped up, nearly falling over as his left leg, still stiff from laying for so long, ached and refused to cooperate. He shoved his boots on, stumbling down the stairs with a bitten off curse. He grabbed the heavy jacket from where it was draped over a chair, going as quickly as he could to the front door. He threw it open, scanning the yard, suddenly coldly aware of his lack of a blaster. When he finally spotted Forks, he froze, and it took a second for his sleep muddled brain to process what he was seeing.

About half-way between the cabin and the outbuilding, Forks had fallen over, laying on the ground. Above the droid, holding it down with one enormous foot that easily spanned its entire front, stood the biggest brown bear Thrawn had ever seen. It was sniffing the droid, inquisitively nosing its dome and treads. Forks wailed again, extending its manipulator arms and swiping ineffectively at the paw holding it down. The bear didn't seem to care, using its paw to drag the droid closer and turn it slightly. The bear's terrifyingly large claws sank through Forks' outer plating at the motion. Forks screeched impossibly louder and a welder extended from a panel. It aimed directly at the bear's paw, and the bear roared when it ignited, rearing back. Forks tried to wiggle itself up onto its treads, but the bear roared again, swiping the droid with its uninjured paw and sending it flying into the side of the cabin.

Thrawn flinched at the sound of metal crashing against wood, another electronic scream abruptly fizzling out on impact. His attention was back on the bear a second later, as it spotted him and growled menacingly. It took a step toward him, and his mind raced through his options. He didn't have a weapon of any kind, and the bear was angry, unlikely to be scared off by loud noises since Forks' wailing hadn't done much to dissuade it. With how easily it had batted the droid around, the cabin door wouldn't pose any kind of obstacle, especially since it had already set its sights on him. Maybe he could get inside and up the stairs. They might not be enough to support the bear’s weight, and collapse before it could reach the top. He could end up just cornering himself, but there weren't any better options. Even in perfect health, he wouldn't have been fast enough to outrun it.

The bear had taken another step forward, and Thrawn was just about to make a dash for the stairs when a noise from the treeline drew his attention. For a split-second, the thick underbrush rustled, then a blur darted out of it, charging straight for the bear. The bear had just enough time to turn its head and see the blur leap onto its back. Now that it was stationary, Thrawn could see that the blur was a very familiar strill, and the bear bellowed as Kiran's six sets of viciously sharp claws dug into its back. It thrashed violently, trying to dislodge Kiran, but he held fast, biting at the back of the bear's neck with an unearthly shriek. When shaking did nothing, the bear switched tactics, rearing up on its back legs so it could try to swipe the strill off with one of its massive paws.

There were a few times when the bear's claws came dangerously close to him, but Kiran had nearly flattened himself, sinking to the middle of the bear's back and out of reach. He unhooked one leg's claws to swipe at the bears paws on their retreat, and the hits landed a couple times, eliciting more roars from the bear. Blood was beginning to pool on the ground underneath the bear, between the cuts on its paws and the deep gashes on its back and neck. Even more was matting in its fur, wetting it from brown to nearly black. It was clearly feeling the extent of its injuries, dropping again and shaking frantically, throwing blood in wide circle around it. It yielded the same result as before and it panted, eyes wild and rolling as Kiran dug his claws in even deeper.

The bear threw its head back, letting out an earthshaking roar that put even Forks' loudest blare to shame. Evidently, this is what Kiran had been waiting for. As soon as the bear's roar started, he darted forward, leaning over the bear's shoulder to clamp his jaws around as much of its exposed throat as he could reach. As quick as he'd come, Kiran pulled back and out of its reach once more, tearing out the chunk of flesh his sharp teeth were still clenched around. The roar turned into a gurgle, and the bear swiped at the place Kiran had been not half a second ago. The strill leapt off the bear's back, shooting away as soon as he hit the ground, only stopping to turn when he'd reached the treeline opposite of where he'd come from. The bear tried to stagger after him, taking a few aborted steps before it wobbled and collapsed. It took a handful of labored breaths, then stilled completely. Kiran watched it the entire time, even past the point it stopped breathing. Once it had been still for almost a full minute, he relaxed and sat down, beginning to chew on the chunk he still had in his mouth.

Thrawn stared, heart still pounding, and leaned against the door frame as the adrenaline started to wear off. The whole thing felt like it had taken an hour, but he knew it couldn't have lasted more than five minutes. He looked between the dead bear and Kiran, who was now nonchalantly cleaning the blood off his claws. He'd know strills were vicious, and they had a reputation for being extremely territorial, and being surprisingly intelligent. It was a very different thing to know this, than it was to see something that couldn't weigh more than a hundred pounds take down a bear the size of a small landspeeder. He looked over, and Forks was still laying where it'd fallen, optics dark. He shivered, suddenly remembering the biting cold as it nipped at his exposed face and hands.

The cabin was dark and chilly, the air slipping in around him making it even colder. A closer look told him there wasn't much he could do for Forks; he did pull the droid upright and wheel it into the cabin. Then he went and gathered up a few scattered logs that Forks must have dropped when it noticed the bear. He carried them into the cabin, and when he turned to close the door his heart spiked into his throat. Kiran stood right outside the door, staring up at him intently. There was still blood smudged in his fur, especially on his feet and around his muzzle. Neither of them moved. Then Kiran's tail was gently swishing behind him, tongue lolling out of his mouth happily. Thrawn blinked, and slowly moved to the side, letting the strill come trotting in. He closed the door, watching Kiran walk through the kitchen, sniffing everything.

Thrawn kept one eye on him, even while he arranged the logs and started the fire. The cabin began to warm, and Kiran's ears perked up at the crackle of the fire. In a blink he was there, and Thrawn's eyebrows rose in surprise as the strill practically melted onto the floor in front of the wood stove. He started cleaning his paws and snout as he basked in the heat of the fire and Thrawn felt sure enough that he wouldn't be jumped now to turn his back. He checked the time, and found that it was seven in the morning. He considered his comm for a moment, before he grabbed his datapad, dialing in the number when he found it. It rang a few times before it connected with a click, a yawn audible over the line.

“Hello?” a tired voice answered, fighting back another yawn.

“Hello, this is Thrawn,” he said, and heard a hum of recognition.

“Oh, hey. You know, when I said to comm me if you needed something, I didn't expect it to be this early in the morning,” Liryn said, humor clear in her voice.

“I did not expect this either,” Thrawn said, and cutting to the point, “I'm comming you because I've just watched your strill kill a rather large bear in my front yard.” He looked out the window at the bear as he said this, then back at Kiran, still splayed in front of the fire and looking pleased with himself.

“What? Are you alright? Is Kiran alright?” she sounded much more awake now, and a little panicked. He could hear rustling on her end of the call, though he couldn't tell from what.

“I am fine, as is your strill. Unfortunately, my droid sustained some damage, but that is fixed easily enough,” he replied, and Liryn let out a sigh of relief.

“Okay, good, that's good. I'm on my way over right now,” Liryn said, the sound of a door closing echoing through. Thrawn blinked, not having expected that response.

“That isn't necessary. There isn't much to be done now, honestly,” he told her, and she snorted softly.

“Doesn't matter, I'm already on my way. I'll be there in fifteen minutes,” she said with finality, and the comm abruptly cut off. He stared at the comm, bemused. He wasn't sure what to think of the exchange, so he just slipped the comm into his pocket. Then he filled the kettle like he usually did, boiling water for a cup of caf. He was not awake enough for this. He examined Forks again in the brighter light of the kitchen. The tears left by the bear's claws didn't look like they'd caught any of the internal components, but when he tried to manually reset the droid, it refused to power back on. Being slammed into the side of the cabin from a good three yards away must have knocked something loose further in. He'd just have to take it into town, maybe the mechanic there could fix it. For now, he pushed the unresponsive droid out of the way into a corner.


	4. NCIS: Special Bears Unit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I just want to give a shoutout to everyone who’s given kudos or commented! You guys make my day!

When Liryn's speeder pulled up, Thrawn was only half done with his caf. He walked outside to meet her, chipped mug in hand. Liryn climbed out and stopped in front of her speeder just to gape at the bear.

“Holy _shit,_ ” she breathed, walking over and circling it once. She was careful not to step in the pool of blood that had spread around it. When she'd looked her fill, she walked over to him, giving him a once over as well. Her gaze lingered on his pants for a moment, then shifted back to his face.

“You're sure you're okay?” she asked, and Thrawn looked down at himself. There was a splash of blood on one leg, over one boot and the hem of that pants leg. He looked over the ground, and there was a haphazard circle of blood splatter from both times the bear had tried to shake Kiran off. There was a break in it where he'd been standing, just outside the doorway of the cabin.

“Yes, I'm sure,” he replied, sipping his caf. Liryn's head tilted to one side, looking like she was about to say something. Instead, she shook her head, pushing pale brown hair out of her face where it had fallen.

“Alright. Where's Kiran?” she asked, scanning the treeline. Her eyes caught the faint tracks the strill's paws had left, following them to where they were standing.

“Inside,” Thrawn said, “He seemed to want in. I hope I wasn't overstepping?” As soon as he'd finished, there was a whine from the other side of the door. They both turned to look, and Kiran's face was pressed to one of the windows. Thrawn reached over, opening the door, and the strill immediately came spilling out. He nearly bowled Liryn over, slamming into her legs and leaning the entirety of his weight against her. She stumbled back a step before regaining her footing with a grunt.

“Kiran,” Liryn leaned down to put a hand on either side of Kiran's face, pushing the loose skin together and distorting his happy expression, “Child, did you track blood all over Thrawn's house? And what is _this_? The king of the mountain? Why is there a giant bear here? What do you have to say for yourself?” The strill just panted happily at her, tail slapping the ground and tongue licking at the parts of her hands it could reach.

“Ugh, gross, no, you have blood breath, go,” Liryn complained, and pulled her hands away, wiping the slobber off on her pants. Kiran stood up, loping off across the clearing and trotting along the edges, pausing to stick his nose in the grass here and there. Liryn huffed as they both watched him, still rubbing the last bits of saliva off her hands.

“This really is weird, you know,” she said, looking back at Thrawn with a serious expression, “A bear that big wouldn't have come this close for no reason, especially into another predator's territory. Just the smell of the processing plant for the mine, even this far away, is enough to keep everything but the most desperate animals from getting close.” They both looked at the bear, examining it from a distance.

“It did not seem especially desperate,” Thrawn offered. “It seemed more interested in examining my droid than anything else. It also wasn't acting like it was sick, or like something was wrong.”

“No,” Liryn conceded, “You're right. It looks fine, other than the obvious.” She frowned, propping her chin up in the palm of one hand. “The only thing I can think of is that someone might have been feeding it, and it lost its fear of people. I can't imagine who would though – everyone who lives here knows better, and the seasonal employees can get fired if they interfere with the local ecosystem outside of their work.” Thrawn raised a brow at that. It certainly didn't sound like Mining Guild policy; the information he had didn't give much detail about the mining operation, and it had been reasonable to think it was the Guild. Liryn didn't notice him examining her and thinking, still frowning in thought at the remains of the bear. He narrowed his eyes in thought, sipping his caf.

“Well,” Liryn said suddenly, propping her hands on her hips, “There's no way to really tell right now. It also could have been a disease, and it just wasn't showing any physical symptoms yet. I'll have to check with the mine, see if anyone's been acting strange. In the meantime, I'll get someone to come deal with it. Nobody wants a rotting bear in their front yard.” She said this last bit with a small laugh, shooting him a grin. Thrawn hummed in agreement.

“Indeed,” he said, expression bland. She gave him an odd look, one corner of her mouth quirked up. Then she was pulling out her comm, typing something in and putting it to her ear.

“Hello, Ellriss? It's Liryn. Sorry, I hope I didn't wake you up. Oh, that's good.” Her voice shifted to something less mild, and she continued, “To get to the point, Kiran killed a bear up by the guest cabin. I think there might be something wrong with it, so I don't want to just leave it out and let it get eaten. Do you think you could come get it?” There was a brief silence, then she was nodding to herself.

“Alright. Thanks, Ellriss. I'll be here waiting,” Liryn finished, ending the call. Thrawn was starting to get uncomfortable, the strain of standing for so long in the cold sapping his energy. Some of it must have shown on his face, because when Liryn looked at him, her face shifted to a concerned frown.

“Are you okay? You don't have to wait out here with me,” she said, and Thrawn shook his head, schooling his expression once more.

“I'm fine,” he said, then the still healing bones in his leg ached. He tried to cover the resulting wince by taking a sip of his swiftly cooling caf. It must not have worked, since Liryn's frown deepened.

“No, no, you're supposed to be here to recover, not strain yourself, and standing around out here in the cold isn't good for anyone,” she insisted, gently trying to usher him into cabin. Thrawn didn't even put up a token protest, long since used by now to this brand of concern that Forks and Liryn seemed to share. He only huffed softly, allowing himself to be herded inside in what must have been a comical sight, with such a slight human pushing someone of his size around. The warmth of the cabin was inviting, and he allowed himself to relax in it for a moment, while Liryn called for Kiran at the door. He'd composed himself again by the time the strill came bounding in, narrowly avoiding crashing into the bookcase as he was forced to quickly slow down. Liryn sighed in exasperation.

“Sorry about him,” she said, shrugging off her thick coat, “He's probably all wound up from the bear. I'd leave him outside to burn it off, but I don't want him eating that bear if there _is_ something wrong with it.” The strill was almost bouncing, a huge difference from when he'd been in the cabin earlier. Thrawn was beginning to suspect it was less the fight with the bear, and more Liryn's presence that had him so energized.

“It's alright,” he told her, taking his own jacket off and draping it back over the chair he'd grabbed it from. He heard claws scrambling against wood, and they both looked over to see Kiran attempting to climb the stairs. Thrawn was only surprised he hadn't tried it earlier, but Liryn's face flushed and she had to clear her throat when she failed to speak properly on the first try.

“ _Kiran!_ ” she said, voiced pitched lower into a no-nonsense tone. The strill immediately froze, peeking wide-eyed through the banister at her.

“ _No,_ ” she told him, in the same voice. He ducked his head, ears down and back as he almost crawled down the stairs. He kept glancing up at her pitifully, mostly keeping his head ducked as he laid down in front of the fire. Liryn took a deep breath, loosening her grip on her coat where it had tightened.

“Would you like something to drink?” Thrawn asked, breaking the sudden silence. Liryn's shoulders jumped, and when she looked at him there were still two points of color high on her cheeks.

“What? Oh, yes, thank you,” she managed to force out.

“Is caf alright?” he asked as he refilled the kettle and set it on the stove to boil.

“Ah. Yes, if you have milk, but if you don't water's fine,” she said. He thought for a moment.

“Caf it is then,” Thrawn said, and glanced at her. “Please, have a seat.” Liryn blinked owlishly, much like she had when they'd met, before she blinked out of it and walked over to where Kiran was laying. Thrawn followed her, sitting in his usual seat, while Liryn settled in the one across from it. She draped her coat over her lap, absentmindedly petting Kiran when he carefully nudged her hand with his nose. Thrawn's leg still ached, despite the warmth and that he was now sitting. He'd been tense from the moment he'd seen the bear, and past when Kiran had finally killed it, and it hadn't done the injury any favors. His shoulder and arm were protesting too, alternately between going numb and tingling. His stomach was protesting the cup of caf he'd had without food and another was sure to only make it worse. Just as he was thinking this, he heard the distinct sound of a growling stomach, but it hadn't been his. Liryn's face had gone red again, and she cleared her throat in embarrassment.

“Sorry. Your call kind of woke me up, and then I rushed over here, and I didn't really stop to do more than throw on boots and a jacket –,” she hastily explained, cutting herself off before she could say more. Now that he looked, other than her boots, and the jacket across her lap, she was in a long sleeved sleep shirt and pants. His own situation was near identical, the only difference being that his shirt was short sleeved.

“Then it would appear we are in the same predicament. Would you like something to eat?” he offered, and her eyes went wide again.

“Oh, no, I'm alright, I don't want to be an inconvenience –,” she started, and stopped when he leveled her with a flat look. She clenched her jaw with a determined frown, and stared him down. “Okay, but at least let me help. I'd feel bad, letting you do everything when your leg's hurt.” Thrawn blinked at her in surprise and she let out a breath.

“You're favoring your left leg – your entire left side, really. It's not obvious, but I noticed,” Liryn explained bluntly. Thrawn had thought he'd been doing a reasonable job concealing his injury. He didn't like the idea that it had been noticed so easily. He reconsidered his impression of Liryn, and realized he'd been subconsciously underestimating her. Her youthful appearance and sunny demeanor were naturally disarming, and he'd let himself fall for it. While he could cut himself some slack due to his ongoing recovery, he should still know better. Liryn was still waiting for his reply, face expectant.

“Alright,” Thrawn conceded, and the tension in Liryn's shoulders eased as she relaxed into the chair. He stood, feeling his leg try to cramp, and had to brace himself on the back of the armchair until it stopped. Liryn fixed him with a look, her eyebrows raised in an expression that plainly said ' _See? I'm right._ ' He shot her an unamused glance and, once he could move, he led the way back into the kitchen with Liryn close behind him. The kettle was already nearly whistling, and he quickly considered what he actually had in his pantry.

“I'm afraid I don't have much variety to offer,” he settled on, opening the pantry, moving to the side so Liryn could see in as well, and they both scanned the shelves.

“What about oatmeal?” she offered. His brow furrowed, and he looked down at her.

“Oatmeal?” he said, confused. She looked confused herself for a moment, then it cleared.

“Oh, I forgot that they call it something different where I'm from. I meant this –,” and she stretched up onto her toes, reaching for one of the upper shelves without success. Following where she was reaching, his gaze landed on the box of quick grain meal.

“The grain meal?”

“Yes,” she said, still reaching. “That. Don't know _why_ everyone else just calls it grain meal, oats are a _specific_ grain,” she grumbled. He easily took it off the shelf, placing it on a counter. He paused, and looked at Liryn from the corner of his eye.

“Perhaps if you weren't so short, you could have reached it yourself,” he jabbed experimentally. Liryn stared at him for a few seconds, shocked. Then she was pressing a hand to her chest, the other propped on her hip in an exaggerated pantomime of offense.

“Excuse me? I'll have you know, I am a _perfectly average_ height for someone of my species and gender. If anything, _you're_ the one who's unreasonably tall,” she finished decisively. He felt his mouth quirk in amusement, and turned to pour the boiled water into two mugs to hide it. He heard her open a cabinet, finding and taking down two bowls on the first try.

“ _And –,_ ” she continued, opening a drawer, pulling out a pair of spoons, “I have been nothing less than an _exceptional_ host, and here you are, making insensitive comments about my height. _Rude,_ sir.” Thrawn had never considered himself to be the kind of person who needed large amounts of interaction with other people. Now though, after having only had some books and a droid that communicated exclusively in binary for company for something closer to three weeks than two, he had a new appreciation for talking to an actual person. The way Liryn had quickly snatched up the thread of his joking insult didn't hurt either. He set down the kettle within her reach as she spooned dry oatmeal into each bowl. While she poured hot water into the bowls, he grabbed the carton of blue milk out of the fridge, setting it next to the emptier mug.

“My apologies, _Governor,_ ” Thrawn said with a dry sarcasm. He took a sip of his caf, looking back with his best sabacc face when Liryn side-eyed him. He raised his eyebrows, and her serious mask broke with a snort as she stirred the oatmeal. She pushed one of the bowls towards him, and while he picked it up, stirred some of the milk into her mug.

“Seriously though,” she said, closing the fridge after having put the milk back, “Just call me Liryn. 'Governor' feels _so_ weird, and what does a Governor even do? I'm more like a glorified landlord.” Thrawn hummed, setting his mug down to take a bite of oatmeal. Even after just one bite, he felt his stomach stop roiling so aggressively.

“Well, you are the one who the Empire contacted when they decided to send me here,” Thrawn replied. She mulled over what he'd said for a moment, taking a bite of her own oatmeal.

“I guess, but I'm only really 'in charge' of the mining that's happening. The businesses and people in town own the land their stores and houses are on.” While she talked, Liryn carried her bowl and mug back over to the armchairs, where Kiran was still laying. Thrawn followed her, sitting back down in his own chair.

“And I don't really have a direct role in the mining,” she continued, “I just check in on it every now and then, to make sure the company is following the terms of their contract with me.” Thrawn tilted his head, watching as she slipped out of her boots, tucking her legs underneath her on the chair.

“I was under the impression that the mining company worked for the Empire?” Thrawn asked, and Liryn nodded.

“They do, but Nuxena isn't in Imperial space. So because I own the moon, and I'm an Imperial citizen, the company has to get my permission to mine,” she paused, looking for a place to set her mug, and finally setting it on top of the wood stove. “I don't mind them doing it, but I also didn't want them to wreck up the place, so I made them sign a contract. I like Nuxena the way it is: entirely too cold eighty percent of the year, covered in trees, and a one to one thousand ratio of people to bears.” Finished with her speech, she took another bite of oatmeal. Then she looked over at Forks, sitting in the corner of the kitchen with large gashes on one side, and dents on the other.

“I am sorry your droid got messed up,” she added with a frown. Thrawn glanced at the droid himself.

“It is inconvenient, but fixed easily enough,” he said after a moment. Liryn hummed past her oatmeal at that, nodding. The conversation stopped at that, the both of them eating in a what ended up being a very comfortable silence. Kiran had calmed, and was stretched out between them to expose as much of himself to the heat of the fire as he could. Liryn freed a foot, stretching it out to rub her sock covered toes over the strill's exposed belly. He didn't even bat an eye, letting out a breath in a gentle whoosh at the attention, going impossibly more boneless. Liryn set her empty bowl on her lap, glancing at the clock on the bookcase.

“Ellriss should be here soon,” she said. She wiggled her feet back into her boots, standing to take her bowl and mug to the kitchen. She set them both in the sink, walking back over to pull her jacket on.

“Thanks again for breakfast,” she told Thrawn, giving him a small smile. He stood, holding his own dishes, and let the corners of his own mouth curve up ever-so-slightly.

“It was no trouble,” he assured her, and as he was setting them next to hers, he heard the rumble of a speeder pulling up outside.

“Ah, that'll be Ellriss,” Liryn said, walking past him and out the door. Thrawn looked through the window in the kitchen, watching her walk up a speeder slightly larger than hers. It was pulling a trailer behind it, and the speeder itself had a winch on the back. The speeder had parked next to Liryn's, and out of it came a silvery-green togrutan man. He was wrapped in thick, warm clothing, and the expression on his face was somewhere between angry and miserable. Liryn said something to him, gesturing to the bear. They walked to it together, the man nodding along to whatever she was saying while he looked the bear over. Thrawn heard a noise to his left, and his head whipped around. Kiran was pawing gingerly at the door, looking at him pleadingly.

Thrawn looked back outside where the man had gone back to his speeder, rearranging it so the trailer faced the bear. Liryn was clearly directing him, standing by the remains and waving a hand. Thrawn grabbed his jacket, pulling it tight around himself, and walking to the door. Kiran, who had been watching him still, started to wag his tail the moment he saw Thrawn grab his jacket. The strill jumped aside to let him to the door, but looked up in confusion when Thrawn blocked him from leaving. He caught Kiran's betrayed gaze as he closed the door behind him, letting out a pitiful whine once the door was completely closed. Despite nearly an hour passing, it hadn't gotten any warmer. He supposed that meant winter was nearly here, as he walked over to stand next to Liryn, who was still directing who he could only assume was Ellriss.

“Okay, okay... there!” she called out and the speeder stopped. Ellriss climbed back out of it, then started pulling some rope out of the back. He looked even more disgruntled up close, a grim set to his mouth past the furred hood of his jacket. Liryn jumped a little, when she turned and noticed Thrawn was there.

“Oh, you snuck up on me,” she laughed, and Ellriss pressed a button, lowering the trailer to the ground. “This is Ellriss. He's the local butcher, and he also deals with any wild animals that get killed, but can't be used for food,” she explained. Ellriss looked up from where he'd been tying the rope into a harness, wrapping it around the bear's ankles and its waist. He gave Thrawn a humorless nod and, when Thrawn nodded back, returned to his task. He finished quickly, standing up and retrieving the end of the winch cable. He attached it to the harness, tugging it to confirm it was secure, then he returned to the winch controls to turn it on. Slowly, the bear was pulled onto the trailer, a smear of blood left in its wake. Ellriss checked the spot where the rope harness met the winch cable once more, then turned the trailer's repulsors back on to raise it. It rose much more slowly with the added weight of the bear, but still managed to reach its previous height.

“Thank you, Ellriss,” Liryn said, holding out her hand. Ellriss pulled off a bloody work glove before shaking it.

“No problem,” he said, his calm and soothing voice contrasting enough with his appearance to be surprising. He and Thrawn nodded at each other again, then Ellriss got into his speeder. He disappeared around the bend in the road and Liryn shivered, stuffing her hands deeper into her coat pockets.

“Brr, it's definitely almost winter. We'll probably get snow within the week,” she announced. A loud, plaintive whine came from the cabin and she laughed while she walked to the door.

“Alright, you big baby,” Liryn said, opening the door. Kiran sped out, stopping a few feet away. He shot Thrawn another betrayed look before turning to Liryn for sympathy. She shook her head with a sigh, gently rubbing the loose skin around his neck and shoulders.

“How are you such a drama queen?” she asked the strill. Kiran leaned into the attention, and almost overbalanced when she pulled away. He righted himself and, after a full body shake, left to investigate where Ellriss and his speeder had been. Liryn huffed at the strill's antics, glancing at Thrawn as he approached.

“You should take your droid to the mechanic in town, they'll definitely be able to fix it,” she told him. She hesitated for a second, then spoke again.

“If you start going stir crazy, don't be afraid to come bug me. I know it can get a little overwhelming at first, with how little there is around here to keep yourself busy,” Liryn said.

“I'll keep that in mind,” Thrawn replied and her shoulders lost the tension they'd had. She smiled, walking back to her speeder, whistling sharply as she got there. Kiran's head shot up at the sound and he came running over, jumping into the speeder through the door Liryn was holding open for him.

“I guess I'll see you later, then,” she called to Thrawn, waving as she climbed in. He gave a little wave back and then her speeder disappeared down the road. He went back inside, his leg already aching again, and grabbed one of the datapads he hadn't read yet. He sat down in the same chair as earlier, the wood stove warming him from the chill outside the cabin. Thrawn glanced at Forks again; it already felt strange, having the absence of the droid's fussing, mild though it had become. The mechanic's shop would definitely be his first stop the next time he went into town. For now, he let himself relax. The last dregs of the adrenaline from earlier were completely gone and he wasn't sure he could get up again even if he wanted to. So he carefully stretched in his seat and started reading.


	5. Hark, What Discord Follows

The next day, Thrawn woke feeling groggy and disoriented. The chill of the cabin only highlighted how much he'd grown used to having Forks around. It was more difficult than usual to force himself up, the cold sinking into his left leg and shoulder, making them painfully stiff. He'd at least had the foresight to bring in extra wood the day before, and started a small fire. He'd be leaving after a quick breakfast, so it would have been a waste to make anything bigger. After he'd eaten, he began the process of rolling Forks out to the speeder. Once he'd gotten the droid there, he was then faced with the problem of actually getting it in. Forks, like most astromechs, was far from being lightweight and, on top of that, its model was one of the larger ones.

Thrawn dug around in the outbuilding and found a large, flat piece of wood that might work as a ramp. It looked to be thick enough to not snap under the droid's weight, though it was barely wide enough to fit both of the droid's treads at once. Further searching didn't turn up anything else that might be useful. He arranged the board at as shallow an incline as he could, digging the bottom end into the ground to prevent it from slipping. Carefully, he started rolling Forks up the ramp. There was no sound of wood creaking and the board bowed only slightly under the droid's weight. Soon, Thrawn had the droid laying across the speeder's back seat. He returned the board to the outbuilding, brushing dirt off his hands before climbing into the speeder himself.

True to what Liryn had said, the skies were much darker and cloudier than they'd been yesterday. Thrawn eyed them critically. He hoped it would hold off until he was done in town and back at the cabin. The drive to town was just as uneventful as it had been every other time and felt like it passed more quickly than it actually did. This early in the morning, there were no speeders or people visible on the street. He parked in front of the mechanics, wondering if he wasn't too early. He'd let the cold keep him in bed longer than usual, but it had still only been nine in the morning when he'd left. He tried the door and it opened easily, so he walked in.

Inside there was a small reception area with a counter, a couple of chairs pushed against the wall opposite it. Behind the counter was a door, which he assumed led to a workshop. There wasn't anyone there besides him, but there was a bell on top of the counter for alerting workers to the presence of a customer. He pressed it once, lightly. It didn't make any noise, but he heard a brief, faint ringing from behind the door. He was just considering taking a seat while he waited when the door swung open. A bright white and yellow R3 series astromech rolled through, dome swiveling until it spotted him.

“Huh,” a vaguely feminine voice said in basic, “You're new.” The droid whirled back around, projecting the same voice he'd just heard back through the doorway. “Hey Kothe! There's some weird looking Pantoran here!” Through the still open door, Thrawn heard an odd combination of clicking and chirps, along with the sound of metal rubbing against duracrete. Footsteps approached and the droid backed up to let a green insectoid in thick work clothes through the door. The Gand, as Thrawn now realized they were, was small, less stocky than you usually saw in the species, and barely came up to the bottom of his chest. Large silver eyes focused on him as they wiped something off their gloved hands with a frayed and stained old rag. They stared at him for a moment, head tilted, their lack of recognizable facial features making their expression difficult to decipher. They glanced to their side at the yellow astromech.

“Kinky, that's very clearly not a Pantoran,” the Gand said in basic. Before he heard the basic, a similar series of clicks and chirps as earlier came from them, then a woman's voice in basic came from a device strapped to their neck. The Gand, Kothe, looked back at him and he noted that they weren't wearing the respiration mask usually necessary for Gand to survive outside of their planet's atmosphere.

“You're Chiss, right? You must be the accountant Liryn mentioned,” Kothe said, ignoring the droid's grumbling at being corrected. Thrawn looked at them, eyes narrowed a little in suspicion. Finally he nodded.

“Yes,” he replied. “I assume she's already told you about my droid?” They nodded, looking around the room for it.

“Yep, she did. Where is it?” they asked, looking back to him when they'd finished scanning the room.

“Still in my speeder.” Thrawn turned, leading them outside and opening the speeder's door. Pulling Forks out was much easier than getting it in had been, and he was able to gently slide it out and onto its treads. Kothe looked it over with the air of someone who knew exactly what they were doing. They prodded at the gashes on its front, then opened a panel on its back, pressing a few buttons. They clicked, the device on their neck translating it into a contemplative hum.

“Well, the damage that's visible is pretty much entirely superficial. Did it get hit, or smack into anything?” they asked.

“Yes,” Thrawn answered, not bothering to expand further. Kothe nodded knowingly.

“I thought so. That's a pretty common thing for R5's. The internal power line that connects to their processor is kinda loose and fiddly, so it disconnects if there's any kind of sudden force applied to the chassis,” Kothe explained, closing the panel and stepping back. “It's easy to fix, but it's also buried underneath a lot of other components, so it might take a few hours to get in there. I've also got some astromech plating that should fit this model.” They looked away from Forks and up at him, hands propped on their hips.

“I don't have anything else goin' on, so gimme, like, three hours and I'll be done. Half a day max,” Kothe finished, sounding confident. Thrawn nodded and Kinky attached some kind of magnetic tow cable to Forks' chassis, pulling it back inside and through the door to the workshop. He and Kothe followed the droids in, the Gand hopping up onto a stool behind the counter and typing something into a datapad.

“How much is this going to cost?” Thrawn asked. He hadn't foreseen the need to pay the kind of expense associated with fixing a droid. He didn't intend to be on Nuxena for longer than six months at most, but if something happened and he needed to stay longer, he might worry about credits getting tight. Kothe stopped typing when he asked this, looking up at him.

“Oh. When Liryn called me, she said she was paying for it. Said it was a work related expense.” The confusion was clear in their voice and Thrawn felt his own surprise showing on his face.

“I see,” he said, schooling his expression back to his usual disinterested look.

“Well, if that's out of the way, just give me a way to reach you and I'll call you when I'm done.” Thrawn nodded, and gave them his comm number. Kothe typed it in, switching off the datapad and stepping down from the stool.

“Okay, we're all set. Have a nice day!” Kothe told him, abruptly turning and disappearing through the door with a wave over their shoulder. Thrawn blinked, his eyebrows raising at the sudden exit. He hadn't been expecting Liryn to pay for the repairs to the droid. He also hadn't been expecting anyone to recognize him as being Chiss, given how uncommon it was to leave Chiss Space. Though he supposed Gand were equally uncommon off their home world and here one was. Not to mention the lack of a respirator indicated that they were lungless, which as he understood it was an fairly rare genetic mutation in the species. He walked back outside, looking up and down the street. It was still deserted, and the clouds had only gotten darker. It wasn't below freezing quite yet, but it was still cold enough that getting rained on would be very unpleasant.

Thrawn considered going back to the cabin, but Kothe had seemed very confident that they'd finish in only a few hours. Either way, his leg was making it very clear that standing around out in the cold wasn't an option. He considered the short list of options Nuxena presented him with. The general and clothing stores were both out, with the way his leg was feeling. The communications terminal wouldn't have secure enough channels to contact the Empire with. Liryn must have her own methods of sending and receiving sensitive information from the Empire that he could probably convince her to let him use, not that he had much of anything to tell them. There wasn't anything the medical clinic could do for him; he was healing, albeit slowly without the use of a bacta tank, and the clinic was small enough that it wouldn't have one. The mining facility probably had a medical facility geared towards more serious injuries, but the entire point of him being here was to keep a low profile.

The diner or cantina seemed like the best bet. From the state of the rest of town, they'd likely be almost – if not completely – empty. He hadn't been in the book store since buying datapads over a week ago and even then he hadn't checked the news, so he was behind on the goings-on of the galaxy. After some brief deliberation, he settled on the cantina. He hadn't had a drink for awhile even before nearly dying, so he felt at this point he deserved it. He did make a quick stop at the bookstore to buy a copy of the most current news available, which was still a little over a day behind, but it would do for now. Then he walked down the street to the cantina, datapad tucked in an inner jacket pocket, hands shoved in his outer ones.

The cantina wasn't anything special. It was clear that the owners knew that they were the only establishment serving alcohol on the moon, which made them a prime destination for the mine's workers. This wasn't to say the cantina was poorly maintained, rather that it didn't have any kind of gimmick that catinas in more populated places used, trying to stand out and draw in more customers. Since there was nothing to stand out against, the interior was plain and traditional. There was a small bar with stools spanning one wall, with booths edging the rest of the room, and a few tables scattered through the open floor space. The cantina was just as empty as Thrawn had expected it to be, the only other people being the bartender, a tall, broad human woman, and an equally tall but thinner woman in a server's uniform, sitting at the bar talking with the bartender. There was an old jukebox in the corner next to the bar, quietly playing a song he recognized as having been fairly popular a few years ago. Thrawn seated himself in one of the booths, which were more comfortable than they looked. The server came by, stopping at his booth with the polite smile common to waitstaff anywhere.

“Hello! I'm afraid we aren't serving lunch quite yet, but can I get you something to drink?” He glanced over the menu she handed him, which had a short list of drinks that were common in the more populated part of the galaxy closest to Nuxena, along with something advertised as a local specialty. None of the ones he recognized were quite to his taste, so he ordered one of the specialty. He handed the menu back, and the woman walked back to the bar. A few minutes later, she returned, placing a mug of what could have been any number of other types of ale in front of him. He thanked her and she returned to her place at the bar. He took a sip and was pleasantly surprised. It was a little sweeter than he usually preferred, but otherwise was very good. He leaned back, reading his datapad and slowly enjoying his drink.

He'd been reading for nearly half an hour when the server came back over, offering him a refill and the lunch menu. It reminded him that it had been some time since he'd eaten what was, even for his currently diminished appetite, a small breakfast. At the reminder, his stomach eagerly demanded food. He ordered a small meal that he hoped would be less greasy than cantina fare usually was. The waitress smiled and told him it would be out soon, walking past the bar and through a swinging door next to it. Thrawn went back to reading, continuing to make note of certain articles. Plenty of it was run through so many layers of Imperial censorship that it held little actual information, but often times you could learn just as much from what wasn't being said as you could from what was. With his own knowledge of the Empire's plans from before his injury and what was essentially a – hopefully temporary – banishment, the bits of truth that did make it through to the news gave him a reasonable enough estimation of the Empire's current movements and plans.

His thoughts were interrupted by the rush of cold air accompanying the cantina's front door being opened. A group of men came in, talking among themselves. A few of them laughed at something another said, while they walked to one of the larger corner booths. The bartender left their spot behind the bar, carrying a stack of menus to the table. Thrawn pretended to be absorbed in his datapad as they noticed him, abruptly quieting. There was some conversation with the bartender and she left to lean through the door by the bar, saying something to whoever was there before pouring a set of drinks. The group attempted to look at him without him noticing and, even if he hadn't already, he definitely would have noticed once they began obviously whispering to each other. They stopped at the first sign of the bartender's approach, doing an almost convincing imitation of their earlier joviality. She eyed them suspiciously for a moment, but just served them their drinks and left them to their conversation.

Thrawn supposed he shouldn't be too surprised. New faces were obviously uncommon here and most people were naturally curious. He still hadn't been able to shake the gut reaction that insisted every person here was a threat, but he'd been having more luck lately ignoring it. As soon as the bartender had turned away, they were back to it, only shooting him occasional glances now instead of outright staring. Thrawn breathed a nearly imperceptible sigh, only looking up from his datapad when one of the group, a stocky human man, slid into the other side of his booth.

“Hey, don't think I've seen you around here before,” he said, voice chipper. He had an odd accent, falling somewhere between the more common Coruscanti one and the few Corellian varieties he'd heard.

“I would imagine not,” Thrawn replied after a second, chilly tone matching his cool expression. The man's grin grew strained, though it was subtle enough most wouldn't have caught it.

“I'm Cos Juna. You must be the fancy accountant Morastus hired that everybody's talking about.” Cos rested his elbows on the table, the tension in his smile smoothed out once more.

“That's right,” Thrawn said, not offering anything else. Cos leaned back, taking a sip of the drink he'd brought with him.

“Don't know why she'd bother hiring you. No offense!” the man quickly amended, raising his hands in a placating gesture, “Just that she's been going over it herself long enough, seems like it'd be more trouble bringing someone else in to do it. Not to mention expensive.” Thrawn's eyes narrowed, and he hummed lowly.

“I wasn't given the impression that Ms. Morastus was hurting for credits.” Cos shrugged at that response, turning his glass on its coaster.

“She probably isn't, I wouldn't know personally,” Cos conceded, “And you know what her type's like – could have all the credits in the galaxy, and not be willing to part with a single one.” He said this in a matter-of-fact, almost joking manner; Thrawn's expression didn't change from it's icy disinterest.

“Do you work at the mine?” Thrawn asked, and Cos snorted in amusement.

“What kind of question is that?” he laughed. “Ninety percent of the people on Nuxena work at the mine! So yeah, I work at the mine.” At this, Thrawn leaned in to rest his own elbows on the table, fingers bridged in front of his face.

“I'm beginning to get the feeling you have something to hide, Mr. Juna,” Thrawn said, with the same calm, self-assured intensity he got when he was executing an intricately crafted strategy. Cos' smile didn't falter, but his eyes sharpened, the low light of the cantina painting his face into something many would find subconsciously grim and menacing. Thrawn knew his own eyes would seem to glow in this level of light, and that the majority of humans were intimidated by it. Those that weren't were usually at the least very unsettled.

“Of course not. I don't know what gave you that idea,” Cos said, eyes measuring him. Thrawn stared right back, very purposefully not blinking.

“I believe our conversation has run its course, Mr. Juna,” Thrawn announced softly, tone booking no room for argument. He picked his datapad up from where he'd set it on the table as Cos slid out of his seat.

“Ah, that's too bad,” he said, picking up his drink. “Anyway, good luck with your work, Mister …?” he paused expectantly. Thrawn fixed him with a glacial look, eyes narrowed and the slightest downturn to his mouth. Cos raised his free hand in defeat.

“Alright, alright, I can see when I'm not wanted. Later, Blue,” Cos said, his smile sharp. He walked back to the table the rest of his group was at, sitting down. Thrawn's eyes narrowed further at the nickname as he watched Cos go. His comm buzzed, pulling him out of his thoughts. He glanced at it, seeing a message from an unknown number, informing him that his droid was repaired. He felt his eyebrows rise in surprise. It had barely been two hours, and he'd been expecting to have to wait at least one more. He glanced at the group Cos had returned to; they were deep in conversation, and didn't seem to be paying him any more attention. He couldn't hear what they were saying over the music and even without it they were speaking quietly enough now that the distance would be enough to keep their conversation private. Thrawn stood, tucking his datapad back into his jacket. He paid at a register behind the bar, now manned by the woman who'd served him.

“Have a nice day!” she told him and he nodded back.

“And you as well,” he replied. He braced himself for the cold, then stepped out of the cantina. It was warmer than it had been when he'd gone in and, with the sun almost directly overhead warming him, the weather was almost pleasant. The walk to the mechanic's was short and as soon as he'd entered, Kothe was sticking their head around the door to the workshop to greet him.

“Oh hey, that was quick. Here, come on back,” Kothe said, then they disappeared back into the shop. Thrawn blinked at where they'd been, then carefully pushed open the door and stepped through.

The shop was large, and surprisingly clean. There was a work table with what looked to be a few different disassembled blaster rifles, and in another corner was a half-built machine that might pass as some kind of speeder.

“Over here, weird Pantoran!” a voice called, and Thrawn turned towards it to see Kothe and the yellow astromech, next to an unpainted but visibly repaired Forks. Kothe had one hand on their hip, pressing the heel of the other into the space between their eyes that was roughly equivalent to a forehead.

“Kinky, I _told you_ , he's not a Pantoran. You're being rude,” they told the droid, voice clearly exasperated. Kinky's dome swiveled to focus on them.

“Are you sure?” Kinky asked, her words dripping with condescension.

“Yes, I'm –! Pantorans don't have solid red eyes!” Kothe insisted.

“You don't know that. He could be some weird subspecies – you know, like you?” Thrawn and Kinky watched as Kothe's translator spit out static in an attempt to convey a series of aborted clicks.

“He literally looks _just_ like that chick we saw that one time! You know what? No, we're not –.” Kothe finally managed to spit out, then held up a hand before Kinky could reply. “You're being difficult on purpose, you're _wrong,_ and this conversation is over.” Kothe very pointedly turned to Thrawn.

“Your droid is fixed,” they told him, still sounding aggravated. He glanced over at Kinky, who was conveying smug satisfaction much better than an astromech had any right being able to, then examined Forks, whose optics were still dim.

“Is there a reason you haven't reactivated it?” Thrawn asked, and Kothe perked up.

“Yeah. Usually, when a droid is damaged enough to be knocked offline by it, the combination of that with waking up in an unfamiliar place –,” they gestured to the shop with a hand, “– can make them freak out when they're reactivated. Especially if they're already prone to eccentricity like yours is. So I like to have somebody the droid recognizes around when I reactivate them. It makes things go a lot smoother.” They waited for Thrawn to nod, then pointed to a spot about a yard away directly in front of Forks.

“Stand right about there, please, so you're within sight. But not too close,” Kothe instructed, and Thrawn obligingly moved into position. Once he was standing where they'd indicated, Kothe stepped behind Forks, kneeling and opening the panel they'd checked earlier. Kinky cautiously rolled back a little as Forks' lights lit up, its optics glowing faintly before coming to full power. It let out an alarmed noise, optics darting over everything in front of it, before settling on Thrawn. It slowly beeped in confusion, and Kothe gently patted one of it's leg struts.

“Hey buddy, how are you feeling?” they asked. Forks jumped forward, dome spinning around to focus on them. After it confirmed they weren't an immediate threat, it paused, lights flashing as it ran a quick diagnostic. It's lights dimmed when it was done, and the whirring of  Forks' optics as they refocused in surprise was audible. It said something to Kothe, quickly enough that Thrawn couldn't quite parse it.  Kothe didn't seem to have any trouble though, because they just stood up and nodded.

“Yeah, there were a few little things I fixed while I was reconnecting your power line,” they told the droid, and Forks was silent for another moment. It chirped what was very clearly a question about what had happened and Kinky snorted, answering before either Kothe or Thrawn could.

“You tried to fight a bear, like some kind of idiot, and lost. What do you think you are, an assassin droid?” Kothe sighed, shooting a glance at Kinky while Forks beeped in alarm, dome spinning around to look at Thrawn.

“She's right,” Thrawn informed the droid, whose struts shuddered at the confirmation.

“It's normal for there to be no data up to half an hour before the shut off,” Kothe told him, shutting the still open panel on Forks' back. “But if you notice any other gaps in its memory, or any weird behavior or glitches, you should bring it back. Those kinds of things usually mean an operating file got corrupted because of the shut off, and I'll either need to rewrite it, or upload a new one. But from what I could tell with the scan I ran, it should be fine.” Thrawn tilted his head curiously.

“I didn't realize you were also a programmer,” he said, voice mild. Kothe shrugged, leading the way back to the reception area.

“I am a bug of many talents,” they said, a grin in their voice, stepping up behind the counter again. They grabbed a piece of flimsi and a stylus, scribbling something on it.

“Here, this is the number to my comm, and to Kinky's. The one you got a message from is the shop comm, and I don't always hear it if I'm working.” Kothe held the flimsi out to him until he took it. He glanced at it, then tucked it into the same pocket holding his datapad. He thought back to his encounter at the cantina, gazing at Kothe in contemplation. They were silent as they looked back, their alien features revealing nothing.

“Out of curiosity, do you recognize the name Cos Juna?” Thrawn asked. Kothe propped their chin on a fist, leaning their elbows against the top of the counter. Their hard mouth parts rubbed together, vibrating in something not unlike a hum.

“Cos Juna... human guy, about a foot taller than me, works at the mine?” Kothe wondered, and Thrawn inclined his head.

“Yes, that would be him. I had a rather odd encounter with him earlier.” Kothe nodded, still leaning on the counter.

“Yeah, he's kind of – I don't know if I'd say rude, per say. Smarmy, maybe? Definitely a little self-important. At least every time I've ever talked to him,” they said.

“He seemed unhappy that I had been hired,” Thrawn prodded, and Kothe thought or another moment.

“Huh. Well, that could just be him being himself. But then again, I also wouldn't be very surprised if he was skimming the books or something,” Kothe added with a stretch. “Like, I usually don't gossip about this kind of thing, but that guy's always rubbed me the wrong way.” Kothe shrugged as they said this, swiping away a notification on the datapad in front of them.

“I see,” Thrawn said, mind already turning this information over. “Thank you.” Kothe waved to him as he left, Forks close behind him. The droid hopped into the passenger seat of the speeder, as if it hadn't been slammed into a building only the previous day. In fact, its movements seemed much smoother, as if there had been a nearly imperceptible catch before that was gone now. Forks chirped happily, spinning its dome easily in a full circle, as if it was showing off. Thrawn felt a smile quirk up one side of his mouth at the droid's antics. He started the drive back to the cabin. On the other side of the speeder, Forks went through his available tools, extending each in turn and tittering at how they were now easily and precisely manipulated. The drive between the cabin and town was again uneventful, changed only by the fact that the clouds overhead had darkened even further.

Blood was still smeared over the ground, though by now it had dried. Forks stopped as soon as it jumped out of the speeder, staring at the two large pools and the smearing between them. The droid still hadn't moved when Thrawn finished parking the speeder back in the outbuilding. He walked over and its dome spun to focus its optics on him. With an incredulous whoop, Forks asked him what had happened.

“Liryn Morastus' strill must have heard the racket you were making and arrived just after you went offline to kill the bear,” he explained. Forks stared at him, then back at the dried blood. It quietly whirred something he couldn't quite make out and rolled to the cabin, carefully avoiding the smeared blood. Thrawn watched it go, bemused, before following it into the cabin.


	6. Mostly Dead Is Slightly Alive

Things quickly returned to their routine at the cabin, and by a few days later Thrawn had begun to grow restless again. He desperately needed _something_ to occupy his mind with, more than just reading the books and datapads that now filled the bookcase. Forks had also noticed his change in mood, and subsequently been less pushy than had become its norm. The rain Liryn predicted had indeed come the day after Forks had been fixed, falling around midday, and heavily enough to wash away the blood covering the yard. Unfortunately, that night, like every night so far this week, the temperature had dropped below freezing. It coated the entire area around the cabin in solid sheet of ice, too slick for him to safely walk on with his leg. He'd been unable to get the exercise he'd become accustomed to getting from walking, however briefly, around the cabin, and it only compounded the discomfort of his mental stagnation.

He'd gone over his encounter with Cos Juna, attempting to puzzle out what the man might be hiding. Kothe's offered theory of embezzlement was certainly plausible, but a part of his brain insisted that it was something bigger. The entire point was moot, without further information to give him more clues, and in his current situation, further information was something he couldn't get. Thus, he was back to square one – having nothing to mentally occupy himself with. A brief warm spell had begun to melt the ice enough for him to safely go outside, but it had only just started, and he was going stir crazy.

Thrawn paused, where he had been in the process of fixing himself an ill-advised third cup of caf for the day at only ten in the morning. Forks watched, slumping with relief on its struts when he returned the kettle to the stove without pouring it. The term had jogged his memory, reminding Thrawn of the offer Liryn had made in the case of this exact situation. He glanced at the time, and after confirming that it wasn't ridiculously early, retrieved his comm. He typed in the correct number, and it rang a handful of times before it was picked up.

“Hello?” Liryn answered, voice very much awake this time.

“Hello, this is Thrawn,” he said, much the same way as he had before.

“Oh boy, please don't tell me there's another dead bear in your yard,” Liryn replied, jokingly hesitant. Forks had rolled over to where Thrawn was still standing in the kitchen, beeping inquisitively at him. He absentmindedly patted the droid on its dome as he turned to lean against the counter. Forks seemed taken aback by the gesture, staring up at him while Thrawn glanced out the window.

“No, there have thankfully been no more bears,” he said. Liryn let out an exaggerated sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness,” she breathed. “So if there's no bear, what's up?” Thrawn considered his words for a moment.

“I've unfortunately found myself going a bit 'stir crazy', as you put it,” he finally said to her. He heard Liryn hum understandingly over the line.

“Yeah, that's normal for Nuxena. Most people aren't used to just how little there is to do around here, especially if you're not in town. I had the same problem when I first got here too,” Liryn told him, her voice empathetic. “So how can I help? What do you normally do with your free time?” Thrawn paused to consider this. The higher the rank he'd earned in the Empire, the less free time he'd seemed to have. Once he'd been given command of even a smaller ship, his days had been spent overseeing the day-to-day running of things. After he became a Grand Admiral, his duties had changed slightly, opening up a bit of free time that he had mostly used for planning. Though to be fair, much of the planning he did involved researching and understanding the art and culture of various planets and species, which was something he enjoyed. There was no real way to explain this quickly and concisely, without revealing too much over a possibly unsecured comm line.

“I'm afraid I've never had much free time,” he told her instead. It was technically true, after all. Liryn made a contemplative noise, and was quiet for a moment.

“Well, you're not really giving me much to work with here, but sometimes just a change of scenery can help. I'm not doing anything today, and I'm pretty sure I've got some holovids laying around that I've been meaning to watch,” she offered. “At the very least, my house is a bit bigger than your cabin, which will probably help.” Thrawn eyed the ground between the cabin and the outbuilding that housed the speeder. It was hard to tell if it had melted enough yet, but he was reasonably sure that he'd be able to manage it.

“That sounds agreeable,” he finally answered, pushing off the counter and grabbing his coat. He heard a quiet shuffling sound on the line.

“Alright, cool. The road to my house is the only turn off between you and town, you can't miss it. I'll see you in a bit I guess.” Liryn sounded distracted, and he heard her say something away from the comm that sounded vaguely like her shushing Kiran. “Be careful when you get up here though. I cleared a path from my door to the road, but it's really slippery everywhere else.” Thrawn nodded to himself as he zipped his jacket.

“I'll keep that in mind. Goodbye.” Liryn gave him a quick ' _bye_ ' before hanging up, sounding distracted again. Thrawn put his own comm away, grabbing the speeder keys and carefully stepping outside. Forks was right behind him, and almost bumped into him when he slowed down to make his way across the ice. The walk took longer than it would have normally, but he and Forks both made it to the outbuilding safely. He'd regained some of the lost strength in his arms since his injury and it was much easier now to open and close the overhead door. Soon the speeder was out and the door closed, and Thrawn joined Forks in the speeder. The droid had already cranked the heat up, and hot air blasted him in the face as he climbed in. He squinted in surprise, shooting Forks a look as he angled the vent so it was no longer blowing directly in the face. It looked back, optics flashing as if to say ' _Who, me?_ ' Thrawn shook his head, turning his attention back to navigating the speeder down the path to the main road.

The road between the cabin and the main road was familiar enough at this point that Thrawn barely had to pay attention to actually driving it. The branches of the trees overhanging the road sagged downward, weighed down by thousands of tiny icicles. Occasionally, one would melt enough to fall onto the hood of the speeder, hitting with a quiet sound like the impact of hail. Much like the ground, the trees were coated with a shell of ice, and he saw more than a few sheets fall off of trunks in the heat of the midday sun. The main road, when he got to it, had clearly been used since the rain and subsequent freeze, the heat of vehicles passing over it creating a swathe of half-melted slush down the middle. He turned towards town, and just like every other time, found the only other road between him and town not a mile down the road. It didn't look to have had as much use as the main road, but had definitely seen a few speeders since the freeze.

Thrawn turned onto it, paying more close attention to the unfamiliar twists and turns. The further he went, the more he noticed that he was going up at more of an incline than his own road did. The climb was mitigated by gentle, sloping curves, never quite going into a switchback. It was longer than his own road, and it took him nearly twenty-five minutes to reach the clearing surrounding another cabin, where now it only took him about ten minutes on his own road. The cabin had the same kind of severe roof line that his own had, only a little taller and wider. The most noticeable difference was that instead of being a plain wall with a door and few windows, the flat section around the front door was made of large, square panes of glass. There were also squared protrusions on either side of the first level, breaking up the line of the roof. The one on the right had another door, leading onto a wooden porch with icy outdoor chairs around a table. There was an outbuilding to the right of the porch, identical to his own, and he parked his speeder in front of it.

After he'd gingerly climbed out of the speeder, a nagging feeling made him scan the treeline. He didn't find anything that was glaringly out of place, and he turned to scan the house itself. His gaze passed over the front, the glare of the sun making it impossible to see inside through the multitude of windows. Cautiously, Thrawn approached from the side, edging around so he was out of view of the front windows, and stopped as he reached the short steps at the edge of the porch. He could now see that the door leading into the house from this side was ajar, and neither Liryn or Kiran were anywhere in sight. He scanned what he could see of the clearing from here, finding nothing except ice and trees. There was what might have been a recent break in the treeline, the underbrush there slightly depressed, but there was no way to tell if it was from Kiran frequently using it as an entry point to the woods, or from something else.

There was nothing he could easily use as a weapon within sight. There might have been something in the outbuilding, but the overhead door was too noisy for him to remain unnoticed as he clearly was. Forks had stopped next to him at the bottom of the steps. It started to make a confused sound, but quickly cut itself off when he held up a hand, expression grimly serious while his eyes were locked on the open door. As quietly as he could, Thrawn crept forward toward the door. About two feet away, he was able to see the edge of a boot through the gap. His view of the rest of the house was blocked by what looked like a kitchen counter on the bottom half, and a angled support beam blocked the top. Placing himself on the same side as the hinges and half crouched, Thrawn grabbed the handle, his entire body tensed to react as he slowly opened the door further. What he'd been correct in thinking was a counter gave him cover from the open front area of the house, and as the door opened, the boot was revealed to be attached to an eerily still leg, which was attached to an equally still body.

As soon as the door had opened enough for him to see the the leg, the overwhelming smell of blood wafted past him. Thrawn clenched his jaw at the sudden odor, looking up at the body's face. It was a small relief to see that it wasn't Liryn, who still remained unaccounted for. The body was of a young human man, who was barely that; he couldn't be more than a teenager, really. Unseeing eyes stared lifelessly at the ceiling, his whole face contorted in surprise. The strong smell of blood was coming from the slowly growing pool of it around him. The source of it was obvious; the man's throat was torn out, the shape of the wound uncomfortably familiar. Near the body's still outstretched hand was a blaster, which was laying a little over a foot away. The reaching hand had an oozing claw mark on it, and it was all too easy to imagine the sharp claws of a strill having caused it.

Past the body was the end of the galley kitchen, with two doors directly ahead and an opening at the end of the counters to his left. Quietly, Thrawn moved forward, edging his face around the corner of the cabinet, pushing the pain in his leg from the awkward position to the back of his mind. He could see the edge of a fireplace to the right, and a couch past it. There was a table and a bench seat to the left, then the open floor in between two areas. There was a scuffle from behind the couch, and he froze in place when Kiran's front half emerged into view. His muzzle and the paws Thrawn could see were covered in blood. The strill's ears were pinned back, his eye's wild as he stared Thrawn down. Thrawn was calculating how quickly he could reach the blaster on the floor behind him, and if he could bring it around in time to be of any use, when Kiran shifted back and forth on his feet, whining.

The strill paced into full view, tail between his legs as he anxiously continued to shift his weight between all six feet, looking at Thrawn almost pleadingly. He whined again, disappearing back behind the couch. Thrawn watched with narrowed eyes, grabbing the blaster and holding it at the ready in his right hand, while levering himself up with the counter using his left. He took a cautious step forward, continuing as he heard another whine from the strill. As he approached the couch, he could see Kiran's back over it, the strill still moving around in place anxiously. He rounded the couch fully, and found Kiran standing over Liryn's slumped form. The woman had an arm loosely wrapped around her midsection, a dark spot staining her shirt under it. Kiran stood over her protectively, whining and nudging her face with his snout.

Thrawn eyed Kiran, taking a tentative step towards the pair. The strill looked up at him, ears still pinned back, but his tail wagged where it was tucked under him. Another step, and Kiran laid down next to Liryn, whining and nosing the hand not wrapped over her stomach. Thrawn got close without any protest from him, and pressed two fingers to Liryn's neck. There was a pulse, steady but just soft enough to be worrying. He moved on, lifting her limp arm away to examine her wound. It was plainly from a blaster, the one he'd picked up if he had to guess. It didn't seem to have hit anything serious, but evidently it had caused rapid enough blood loss before it started clotting, or the pain had been enough that Liryn had passed out before calling for help. Her comm was nearby, like she'd dropped it, and then it had bounced away over the wood floor. Giving the wound another look, Thrawn grabbed the blanket draped over the back of the couch. He folded it, then wrapped it around Liryn's middle, tucking it into itself at the end. It would have to do for now.

Thrawn tucked the blaster into his waistband, wishing he had a proper holster. His expression went grim, already knowing how much his leg was going to hate this. Careful of the strill next to her, he slid an arm under Liryn's knees, then the other behind her back, standing slowly. It took a minute for him to make it to his feet, leaning on the couch for balance. It was lucky that Liryn really was as lightweight as she looked, or he might not have been able to carry her with the condition his leg was in. Kiran stood when he did, following Thrawn as he carried Liryn through the house, back the way he'd come in. Forks' dome turned to him when he reached the edge of the porch, the droid beeping in alarm when it saw him carrying the unconscious woman.

“Open the speeder door,” Thrawn ordered it, voice less smooth than he had intended from the strain. The droid turned and zipped across the ice ahead of him without question. Thrawn had to go even slower than he did the first time as he walked over the partially melted ice, but he made it to where Forks was waiting by the open backdoor of the speeder without incident. He gently arranged Liryn so she was laying across the back seat, and as soon as he'd moved back to close the door, Kiran jumped in, sitting on the floorboards next to her. Thrawn just made sure Liryn's feet wouldn't be caught, closing the door and climbing in. Forks was already waiting in the passenger seat, whirring with questions he didn't bother answering. He drove as quickly as he could safely manage down the winding road that led to the house. Once he was on the larger and straighter main road, he pushed the speeder towards it's upper limit, the trees on either side of the road passing in a blur. He only slowed once he was in Nuxena, pulling up directly in front of the medical clinic.

“Go get the doctor,” Thrawn told Forks. The droid chirped an agreement, hopping out and racing inside while Thrawn got out and opened the back door. Kiran followed Liryn out when he picked her back up, following them to the clinic's door. When he walked in, Forks was beeping frantically to a confused receptionist, bouncing up and down emphatically as it gestured with a manipulator. He looked up as Thrawn came in, eyes widening at the sight of him holding a pale and clearly unconscious Liryn. He hurried over, and Thrawn bent down enough so he could easily check her pulse.

“She's been shot,” Thrawn offered, in the same calm and tightly controlled voice he used when he was on the bridge of a Star Destroyer. The receptionist, a human man who couldn't be more than a few inches taller than Liryn, glanced at the blanket still tightly wrapped around Liryn's stomach, then nodded.

“This way,” he said and Thrawn followed him through a door, then down a short hallway and into a room housing four medical beds. He led Thrawn to one of them, and he set Liryn down on it, Kiran watching from so closely next to him that Thrawn almost tripped as he stepped back. The receptionist was quickly gathering something from a cabinet.

“Doctor Madowki!” he shouted over his shoulder, pulling down more bandages, “We have an emergency!” He set everything he'd gathered onto a rolling tray, and as he was wheeling it over, Thrawn could hear quick, heavy footsteps coming from the hall. A Chagrian woman about his height strode in, a grimly severe expression on her face. Her skin was a deep blue, darker than Thrawn's own, and metallic gold thread was wrapped in a pattern over the base of her lethorns. Thrawn stepped back and out of the way, pulling Kiran with him by the collar. The strill was reluctant to distance himself from the bed, but let himself be pulled away nonetheless. Dr. Madowki gave Liryn a lightning quick once over, then began pulling the blanket away from her stomach.

“What happened?” she demanded, glancing at Thrawn for a brief second as she set the now stained blanket aside. On the other side of the bed, the receptionist was hanging up a bag of blood and inserting an IV into Liryn's arm.

“I found her unconscious in her house with a blaster wound,” Thrawn answered. “That was twenty minutes ago, and she couldn't have been there for more than thirty.” Madowki nodded, carefully lifting Liryn's shirt and rolling it out of the way so she could examine the wound more directly.

“Chron,” she said, holding out a hand, and the receptionist immediately placed a gauze pad being held by a pair of forceps into it. She dabbed at the wound, clearing the blood enough to be able to see the damage. The wound was still oozing blood slightly, but mostly looked painfully burnt. She narrowed her eyes, pursing her lips as she looked it over, before holding out her hand again.

“Bacta,” she ordered, and Chron obediently handed her a bacta patch. Madowki used the gauze to clean the blood from directly around the wound before pressing the bacta bandage over it. Chron handed her medical tape while she kept pressure on it, and Liryn stirred, groaning faintly in pain. Her eyes fluttered open, and she blinked in disorientation as she stared at the clinic's ceiling. Madowki finished taping the bandage down, gently blocking Liryn's free hand when she instinctively moved it to cover her stomach.

“Liryn, can you hear me? It's Dr. Madowki,” she said, her voice clear and soft as she moved Liryn's hand back to rest on the bed. Liryn's eyes closed while her face contorted into a grimace, making an incoherent noise of acknowledgment.

“You're at the clinic. You were shot, but you're going to be just fine,” Madowki assured her. “Can you remember what happened?” Liryn's brow furrowed even more, and she cracked open her eyes.

“Kiran was acting weird,” she mumbled. “I was trying to calm him down. Then I heard the door open in the kitchen, and I turned around. Something hit me in the stomach before I could see anything, and I fell down. I heard Kiran growl, and something heavy falling on the floor, and that's it.” Her voice became clearer the more she spoke, and her hands were both clenched tightly in the bed's sheets. Thrawn could see the tension in her jaw, and evidently Madowki did too, because she nodded at Chron. He was waiting with a syringe ready, and at the doctor's signal, slid it into the IV and pushed the plunger down.

“That's good, Liryn. Just try to relax, you're safe now.” Whatever Chron injected must have been some kind of anesthetic, because Liryn's body gradually relaxed, her eyes slipping shut again with a soft, relieved sigh. Madowki abruptly turned to Thrawn, pinning him with an intense look.

“Who are you?” she demanded, shoulders tense. Thrawn purposefully kept his own body relaxed.

“I'm the accountant Ms. Morastus hired. I had assumed the information had spread to the entirety of Nuxena's population, at this point.” He said this with a reserved expression, voice cool and calm.

“How do I know you didn't do this?” She pointedly looked at the blaster still tucked in his waistband, then back at his face.

“If I had, why would I have brought her to you, much less while armed with a blaster?” Thrawn asked in an even tone. “More to the point, because I am still alive. The person who most likely shot her is currently dead and cooling on Ms. Morastus' kitchen floor, courtesy of her strill.” He nodded to indicate Kiran, who was still gently pulling against Thrawn's grip on his collar in an attempt to get closer to the bed. Madowki narrowed her eyes at him, her suspicion obvious, but let out a huff of breath through her nose, shoulders sagging.

“Alright, I believe you,” she acquiesced, looking back down at Kiran. “You can let him go, I know he's well behaved enough not to do anything.” He looked down at Kiran himself, the strill looking back up at him with sad eyes. He released his hold on the collar, and Kiran only sat by the bed, resting his still bloodied muzzle so his nose was pressed against Liryn's hand.

“You can wait in here with her, if you want,” Madowki said, gesturing to a chair pressed against the wall by the bed. “She shouldn't be out for much longer. I have to make some calls.” Her tone was tired and flat as she said this, and without waiting for a response, walked out of the room. Thrawn watched her go, then sat in the chair she'd indicated, leg screaming in protest of how much it had been put through that day.


	7. Kinky Pays With Ones

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! It’s an extra Saturday update! Again, I’d like to thank everybody who’s left comments or kudos - even if I don’t reply to comments, I do read and appreciate them! I just never know what to say lol

About ten minutes later, Liryn made a soft noise, shifting slightly on the bed. Kiran perked up, his tail gently sweeping back and forth across the floor, and Thrawn turned back from where he'd been looking over the rest of the room. Liryn's eyes opened, and she blinked a few times in the light of the room before her head rolled to the side. She focused on Kiran, who was now actively nosing at her hand. She turned her hand over so he could rest his chin on her palm, her brows furrowed in confusion as she looked at the stains around his mouth. She blinked again, then moved her gaze to the rest of the room, working across from the open door until she finally landed on Thrawn.

“Oh, hey,” she managed to push out, face a picture of concentration. She tried to pull her elbows under her and sit up, but Thrawn laid a hand of her shoulder, gently holding her down.

“You shouldn't try sitting up just yet,” he suggested. Liryn didn't try to protest, and laid down, clearly still feeling whatever Chron had given her. She shivered, bringing her free arm up and covering her bare stomach, frowning when she brushed the bandage. She gingerly felt it and looked down, not seeming to be in pain from the prodding.

“Did I get shot?” she asked after a moment, voice surprised. She watched Thrawn nod, staring at him for a moment after as she processed this. “Huh. I've never gotten shot before. It's not as bad as I thought it would be.” 

“The doctor gave you an anesthetic. Can you even feel this?” Thrawn gently pinched her upper arm, just enough to be felt, and she watched with no reaction.

“Nope. Wow, they must have given me the good stuff.” She let her head fall back against the pillow with a thump. Then she frowned at the ceiling, her hair already beginning to tangle beneath her head. “This is gonna suck later, isn't it?” she asked flatly. Thrawn felt his mouth quirk wryly.

“Oh, most certainly, yes,” Thrawn said, his voice tinged with a dry humor. Liryn groaned, shaking her head and tangling her hair further.

“Alright, go get Dr. Madowki. I'm awake now, might as well start dealing with this whole,” she waved a hand around limply, “ _ Thing. _ ” Thrawn raised an eyebrow at her, and she stared right back, raising her own eyebrows in response. 

“Are you certain you should be making any decisions when you were given a sedative not fifteen minutes ago?” he asked her. She narrowed her eyes at him with a frown.

“ _ Yes, _ I'm  _ sure. _ I can already feel it starting to wear off,” she said with a small grimace. “And you know what? I'm sitting up.” She pulled her elbows in again, actually beginning to rise this time.

“Don't sit up,” Thrawn told her, mild exasperation coloring his words, but he didn't make any move to stop her this time.

“Too late,” she said, voice strained and leaning back on her hands with a fierce scowl. Thrawn watched her wince every time she moved, jaw clenched.

“How much are you regretting sitting up, currently?” he asked, tone light and conversational. 

“Not at all,” she spit out through grit teeth. Thrawn finally took pity on her, grabbing a pillow off one of the other beds, propping it and the pillow she'd already been using against the headboard. He tapped Liryn's shoulder when he was finished, and she sank into them, releasing the breath she been holding. At that moment, Dr. Madowki walked back in, squinting at Liryn with a concerned frown. 

“You shouldn't be sitting up,” Madowki told her, shooting Thrawn a displeased look while Liryn gave a tired shrug.

“What can I say, I'm a rebel without a cause,” she deadpanned, face devoid of any identifiable emotion. Madowki rolled her eyes, walking over to stand next to the bed.

“Well the good news is that while you did pass out from blood loss, you got here in time before any permanent damage would have come of it,” she waved a hand at the hanging blood bag connected to Liryn's IV. “The blaster wound isn't severe either, and didn't hit anything vital. The bacta should heal a good deal of it in the next twenty-four hours, but after that you'll need to take it easy and let it heal the old-fashioned way.” Liryn nodded, then straightened up a little.

“Alright, I'm gonna ask the million credit question: who the hell shot me?” Madowki looked at Thrawn, prompting Liryn to follow suit.

“I didn't recognize him,” Thrawn answered, “Though that doesn't count for much.” Madowki hummed in agreement, and Liryn looked at Thrawn with a question plain on her face.

“Regardless,” Madowki started, “I've already called Ellriss and Kothe. They should be on their way up to your house right now.” Liryn nodded in understanding, but now Thrawn was the one confused.

“Why would you call them?” he asked.

“Well, we don't have a dedicated local police force, or any Imperial troops stationed here to fill the role,” Liryn explained. “Ellriss usually helps me when I have to sort out any legal issues that might get physical, and Kothe's droid has way more scanning abilities than a normal astromech, so she's kind of our crime scene examiner, I guess?” Thrawn looked at her, nearly speechless.

“Why do you not have an actual police force?” he asked, incredulous. Liryn shrugged a single shoulder.

“We almost never need one,” she answered. “I did technically deputize Ellriss that first time, so I guess we  _ do _ have a two-person police force. Three or four if you count Kothe and Kinky.” She didn't seem to be nearly as bothered by this as Thrawn was. 

“Regardless,” Madowki began, “You need to stay here for a while longer, to give the bacta time to start the healing process. Ellriss and Kothe will also need the time to identify your attacker, and remove the body.” Liryn's brow furrowed at that.

“Okay, so I get we don't know who shot me, but can someone explain what exactly happened? Because currently, I don't remember much, and what I do remember is kind of fuzzy,” Liryn said, leaning her full weight against the pillows once more. 

“I'll let your “ _ accountant” _ fill you in; he knows as much at this point as I do.” Madowki gave Thrawn a suspicious look again, then checked to make sure the IV was still secure, taking Liryn's pulse one more time. “Once your transfusion is finished, you should be alright to leave. I'm sure your house will be free of bodies by then as well. Chron will come check on you in a bit, and take the IV out for you.” 

“Thanks, Myyse,” Liryn said, and Madowki nodded in acknowledgment before leaving the room. “Now then, fill me in Thrawn. What did I miss?” Now that the doctor had left and Liryn was awake, Kiran was actively seeking her attention, only pausing when she laid her hand on his head.

“What is the last thing you remember?” he asked her. She absently scratched the strill's head as she thought.

“I remember you called me, and that you were coming over.” She was frowning in concentration as she tried to recall the memories. “Kiran was being really antsy, and I was trying to get him to calm down. I heard something behind me? Then I just remember an awful pain in my stomach, and things get really fuzzy.” She looked at him once she'd finished, expectant.

“It was already over by the time I arrived,” Thrawn explained. “I assume that after you'd been shot, Kiran attacked the shooter and killed them. I found them in your kitchen with a good portion of their throat missing. Then I found you unconscious in your living room, with Kiran standing guard over you.” Liryn's eyebrows shot up, and she looked down at Kiran. The strill was right next to the bed, practically at her elbow, still bloodstained and wagging his tail happily.

“I'm glad you stopped them, but I wish you wouldn't always make such a mess,” she said to Kiran, rubbing at some of the dried blood around his mouth with a thumb. His tail thumped hard against the floor at the attention.

“Can you think of any reason someone might try to kill you?” Thrawn asked. Liryn paused to think again.

“No, I can't. I'm on good terms with pretty much everyone in town, and nothing ever really happens here to cause bad blood. The most eventful thing in the last six months was that bear that showed up in your yard. And now this, I guess.” Thrawn leaned back in his chair, thinking.

“You said the bear's behavior was unusual? Did you find anything out?” he prompted, and she shook her head.

“Nope. I had Kothe test for some common illnesses that might have caused it, but it seemed to be in good health. I went to the mine, for a surprise check-in like I do every once in awhile, and asked the overseer to look into it, but I haven't heard anything back yet.” Her eyes widened as she caught on to where Thrawn was going with this. “You don't think – ?” Thrawn nodded.

“Yes. You said yourself, a worker can be fired if they're found to be interfering with Nuxena's wildlife. However, I suspect that it's more than just that,” he told her.

“What do you mean?” Liryn asked, her face serious. Thrawn hummed, bridging his fingers as he leaned back in his chair.

“The day after the bear was killed, I had an interesting conversation with someone named Cos Juna in town. He seemed unhappy that I had been “hired” by you. I believe he's hiding something, and that he thinks you're onto whatever it is. He likely has plans to get rid of me as well.” Liryn blinked owlishly at him.

“Like  _ what? _ ” she asked, visibly running through the possibilities in her mind. 

“I'd assume embezzlement of some kind. Possibly smuggling and selling the mine's ore,” he offered. “Either way, I'd strongly recommend contacting the Empire. Without any real kind of standing force, there's no way you'll be able to deal with this.” Thrawn's voice was blunt, and Liryn's eyes widened in surprise, before narrowing in a determined frown.

“Nope, no way,” she told him, straightening with a small wince. Thrawn narrowed his own eyes at her response.

“Even if it's only a small operation, there's clearly more people involved than just Juna,” he leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees with a serious expression. “It's much more likely that the mine's overseer is involved as well, and if not them, then at least one person in the upper-management. If they're bold enough to attempt to kill an Imperial Governor, that is evidence enough that you won't be able to handle the situation with your current resources.” Thrawn said all of this in a quiet but intense voice, mindful of the room's open door. Liryn's determined face faltered, and she sighed.

“Listen,” she started, glancing at the open door herself, “I know you probably don't understand, since you're obviously part of the Empire's military, but I've done everything I can to keep the Empire  _ off _ of Nuxena.” She looked back at him, face tired but serious. “I'm not some backwater idiot, I  _ know _ what they do to tiny, insignificant places like this one, and the people on them. It might be small, in relation to the rest of the galaxy, but Nuxena is someplace people can live outside of the Empire's reach, without having to deal with the crime that's so prevalent in the outer rim. If I call the Empire in to deal with this, then I'm basically giving them carte blanche to move in and completely take over.” Thrawn was silent, reevaluating his estimation of Liryn once more with this new information.

“How did you come to be the Governor of Nuxena?” he asked after a moment. Liryn blinked at what, to her, was a complete non-sequitur.

“My grandfather,” she said after a moment. “No one in my family is entirely sure how, since him and my grandma got divorced when my mom was a baby, and he didn't have any contact with them after that, but at some point he became the legal owner of Nuxena. When he died, he left it to my mom, but she didn't really have any use for some moon way out in the middle of nowhere. By the time anyone realized that there was anything worth mining here, she had health issues that would have made living here almost impossible for her. So since her and my dad have more than enough to comfortably live on, she gave it to me to decide what to do with. And now, here we are.” She lifted both hands, wiggling them in a half-hearted ' _ ta-dah _ ' motion. Thrawn tilted his head in curiosity.

“How exactly have you managed to keep the Empire off Nuxena?” he asked her.

“Well, my grandma and grandpa were – oh, man, I just realized,” she paused, snorting a laugh, “They were accountants.” She shook her head with a small grin. “Anyway, apparently they knew the Emperor back when he was still just a senator. I'm not sure exactly what happened, and my grandma's never talked about it, but they ended up on the Emperor's good side I guess. No one ever really questioned it; don't look a gift horse in the mouth, right? So when I was negotiating the contract with the mining company, which was also with the Empire since they hired them, I assumed the reason my stipulation about not having any military presence on site got through because of that.” Thrawn had bridged his fingers again, in the same manner as he had at the cantina when speaking to Cos Juna.

“If you refuse to call in the Empire, then what is your plan?” he asked, voice mild, and Liryn groaned in response.

“I don't know,” she admitted, rubbing a hand over her face, “I haven't exactly had a lot of time to think.” She stared up at the ceiling, then came to some conclusion, turning back to him. “How about this: we don't know for sure that this isn't just some guy who saw me once when I was at the mine, and decided to come kill me for no good reason. The mine is seasonal work, and that statistically tends to attract the kind of people who would stalk and kill someone without a concrete motive. The work season is almost over at the mine, and unless you live in town, most of the miners don't tend to realize that I have Kiran. This guy clearly didn't plan to deal with a strill, and probably thought he'd be gone before anyone realized I was even missing.” Thrawn frowned, looking skeptical.

“That is plausible enough, but as you said, we don't know that for sure. Even if you're correct, Cos Juna is still hiding something, and needs to be dealt with,” Thrawn said cooly. 

“That's my point,” Liryn said, gesturing with one hand, “We don't know anything for sure. What I'm proposing is that we look into it. If you decide that it isn't just a one-off coincidence, and that something big is happening at the mine, we can argue over whether or not to call in the Empire then. But if it is a coincidence, then whatever it is that Cos Juna is doing, I can handle it.” Thrawn watched her intently, mulling this over. She stared back, jaw set, seeming to not be unnerved at all by his gaze.

“Alright,” he finally conceded, and Liryn slumped back against her pillows.

“Thank you, Thrawn,” she said sincerely. The room descended into a not-uncomfortable silence. Not even a minute later, it was broken by Chron walking in.

“Hey, Liryn, how you feeling?” he asked, taking her pulse and checking the IV.

“Oh, you know,” she said, “Like I've got a hole in my stomach. But other than that, just fine.” Chron let out a chuckle, deftly removing the IV from her arm.

“Well, we've done as much as we can for you at this point. Now you've just gotta get some good old R-and-R.” He reached into a cabinet by the bed, pulling out a shirt that would be snug on Thrawn, but doubtlessly loose on Liryn. “Here, it's a little chilly to be going out in half a shirt.” He handed it to her, and she looked down, only just now seeming to realize that her current shirt had a large, bloodstained hole over the stomach.

“Oh, right.” She started pulling off her ruined top, seemingly unconcerned about the other people in the room. Thrawn's eyebrows rose at that, and he looked away politely. Chron didn't seemed phased by it, writing something onto a flimsi notepad while Liryn carefully pulled on the new shirt. Chron tore off the piece of flimsi when he was done, handing it and a small bottle to her once she had finished dressing.

“Dr. Madowki prescribed you some mild painkillers; I've written down the full instructions, but I suggest at least taking them before trying to sleep, if nothing else.” Liryn nodded, taking the bottle and flimsi from him. He stepped back to give her room, as she gingerly dragged her legs over the side of the bed. Bracing her hands on the edge, Liryn slowly shifted her weight off the bed and onto her feet. She wobbled for a moment before steadying, and in a blink Kiran was at her side, though thankfully he didn't seem intent on leaning on her this time. She still seemed unsteady as she followed Chron out the door, so Thrawn came around the bed to walk on her other side just in case. 

Chron led them back to the reception area, where Forks was impatiently rocking back and forth on its treads. It chirped in relief when it saw them, wheeling over to Thrawn while eyeing Liryn, who was taking precisely measured steps. Chron walked further ahead of them to hold the front door open, him and Thrawn both closely watching her as she made her way over the still slightly icy sidewalk. Kiran made a suitable enough improvised cane, claws digging into the ice for traction and stability when Liryn rested a hand his back to maintain her balance. She made it to the speeder easily enough, leaning against the back passenger door with a shiver.

“I wonder if my house is still a crime scene,” she thought aloud, palming at her pockets, and looking confused when they came up empty. “Where's my comm?” she mumbled, half to herself. Thrawn stepped forward, opening the speeder's front door for her.

“Still in your living room, most likely. It was on the floor next to you,” he explained, looking at her expectantly until she climbed in.

“Oh. Okay.” She gingerly settled into the seat, trying to move her torso as little as possible. Kiran shifted on his feet, obviously trying to figure out how to squeeze himself into the front with her. Liryn shook her head at him, gently pushing him away. “Nope,” she told him, “You've gotta sit in the back this time, kiddo.  _ Back. _ ” The strill backed up obligingly, enough for Thrawn to close the door. Forks was already in the back seat, and Thrawn was able to herd Kiran in as well with minimal fuss. He went around to the driver's side, and scanned up and down the street before getting in. It was just as deserted as it had been earlier. Satisfied, he got in and started the speeder, beginning the drive back out of town. Kiran kept trying to put his head over the back seat and onto Liryn's shoulder, but she pushed him away.

“Ooooooh no,” she said, pushing the strill's head away gently. “Bear blood is one thing, but  _ people _ blood is an entirely different matter.  _ Down. _ ” She said the command with her voice pitched nearly an octave lower, and Kiran sadly laid down in his seat. Forks was pressed against its side of the speeder, keeping a wary eye on the strill. They were halfway between Liryn's road and the town when she spoke again.

“So, what are you, anyway?” she asked, looking over at Thrawn. He cut his eyes at her without turning his head.

“Pardon?” Thrawn asked, tone icily polite.

“You know, like what do you do? For the Empire?” Liryn clarified, and he relaxed marginally. Thrawn weighed whether or not he should tell her, refocused on the road. “Are you going to make me guess? Because I can guess,” she added when he'd been quiet for a few minutes. Thrawn hummed noncommittally at that.

“Alright then,” she said, putting a hand to her chin in the stereotypical image of deep thought. “You're – a janitor.” Thrawn did turn his head this time, giving her a supremely unamused look. “I'm joking, I'm joking,” she insisted with a short laugh, and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes, facing forward again.

“Okay, seriously this time.” Liryn actually narrowed her eyes as she looked at him this time, deeply considering her options. “Are you – a TIE pilot?” Thrawn didn't respond, taking the turn onto the road that went toward her house.

“Are you – an ISB agent?” she tried, again to no response. She hummed in thought, frowning until she finally came up with something.

“Ah, then you're actually the Emperor's illegitimate son, and he sent you here in an attempt to keep your true identity secret.” This actually managed to make Thrawn grin at the clearly ridiculous suggestion.

“No, I'm afraid not,” he finally answered, trying and failing to smooth his face back into its neutral expression. Liryn sighed dramatically.

“Then I'm out out of ideas,” she said, leaning against the door.

“So three guesses is all you had?” Thrawn asked, glancing at her with a tiny smirk.

“Hey, cut me some slack. I got shot like two hours ago, max,” Liryn's complained, “Not exactly at the top of my game over here.”

“Fair enough,” he said, reaching the not-quite switchback, marking them as being close to their destination.

“So are you actually going to tell me, or is it a ' _ If I told you, I'd have to kill you, _ ' kind of situation?” She paused, squinting at him in consideration. “You're not a Moff or something, are you? I'm pretty sure I would have heard about that, with how racist the Core is. Or maybe that's why I  _ wouldn't _ have heard of it? Then again, I haven't really kept up with that kind of thing...” She stared out the windshield, contemplating this as she adjusted her too-large shirt.

“I'm not a Moff, and I haven't technically been ordered to keep my identity a secret from you,” Thrawn assured her, finally exiting the not-switchback and returning to the usual gently sloped road. Liryn stared at him, eyebrows raised in a ' _ Well? _ ' kind of expression. “Thrawn  _ is _ my actual name. I'm a Grand Admiral, and most of the galaxy, and the Empire, think that I'm dead. That is likely why you were given so little information in the first place; even sending the information over supposedly secure channels was too much of a risk.” She blinked at him for a moment, taking this all in.

“Huh. I really had you pegged as being ISB, for some reason,” Liryn said, voice contemplative. “What's the difference between an Admiral and a Grand Admiral, anyway?”

“It's mostly to establish a clearer chain of command,” Thrawn answered. “A Grand Admiral is the highest rank in the Imperial Navy.” She stared at him, a look of horror crossing her face for a brief moment.

“Oh  _ no, _ and I almost let you get eaten by a  _ bear, _ ” she half-whispered with wide eyes. She slumped in her seat with a sigh, wincing partway through as the motion strained her wound. “I really hope there's not still a body in my house,” she mumbled tiredly. A few minutes later, they pulled into the clearing. The same speeder that Ellriss had been driving the last time Thrawn saw him was there, the trailer still attached. There was a thick tarp spread under a roughly person-shaped bundle on it, and Kothe and Ellriss stood next to the trailer, looking up when they heard the speeder. Thrawn parked in the same place he had last time, and as soon as the speeder stopped moving, Forks was out, zipping a few feet away before stopping. He climbed out himself, and heard Liryn getting out behind him. Kiran had followed Forks out, and had already run around to reach her. Kothe walked to meet her as she came around the front of the speeder.

“I heard you got shot,” they said, in much cheerier manner than someone usually had, when they said that particular combination of words. Liryn nodded as Kothe slowed to keep pace with her, and they both walked over to stand next to Ellriss, with Thrawn close behind.

“Yep,” she said, lifting her shirt enough to show them the edge of the bacta bandage. Ellriss seemed unaffected, but Kothe made an oddly accurate approximation of a whistle.

“Yikes. Could have been worse though: one time, I got shot with a plasma cannon. But I guess you're a lot squishier than me,” Kothe said, poking her arm in example of this. Liryn looked back at them in shock.

“And you didn't die?” she asked, incredulous, and they nodded.

“Yeah. Then, like an hour later, I got punched by a Graul.” Liryn just continued to stare, and they shrugged. “It was a weird day.” Thrawn's eyes were narrowed in thought as he looked down at the Gand.

“Where were that you had those two experiences only an hour apart?” Thrawn asked, and Kothe looked up at him.

“Sorry, you have to be at least a level ten friend to unlock my tragic backstory,” they said, the translator somehow perfectly conveying exactly how cheeky they were being. Their face revealed nothing as Thrawn stared them down curiously. 

“Anyway,” Liryn finally said, “What did you guys find? Also, please tell me my kitchen isn't still a mess.” The events of the day were starting to catch up with her, and she sounded even more tired than she had on the way here. 

“It's not,” Ellriss told her. “We've already moved the body, and Kothe cleaned up as much of the blood as they could. I'll keep him on ice while we try to contact any family he might have.” While he said this, Kothe pulled out a datapad, bringing something up on it.

“I got everything that I could see,” Kothe told her, “but you'll definitely want to give it a thorough sanitizing once you're feeling better.” They tapped a few more things, then turned the datapad so she could see it. “I did some scans, and turns out the guy's name is Druan Reyal. He works at the mine, only started about halfway through the season. I probably could have gotten more, but I didn't want to do any actual  _ digging _ , since this is an 'official' investigation and all.” Liryn steadied the datapad with a hand as she scanned it, Thrawn easily looking over her shoulder to read it as well. She let go once she was finished, giving him a glance before looking back to Kothe.

“How difficult would it be to get more information? Without the company knowing?” Liryn asked them, and they made a noise that the translator immediately interpreted as a barking laugh.

“Oh man, I'm sorry, it's just – their security isn't  _ bad, _ it's just that I've seen much,  _ much _ better. I can totally be sneaky and get you more, if you want,” they offered. Ellriss and Thrawn were both eyeing Kothe now, and Liryn nodded.

“Yes, please,” she replied, and looked between Ellriss and Kothe, her face serious. “I need both of you to keep quiet about this. There might be something more going on, and until I'm sure, I don't want the wrong people to find out.” 

“Of course,” Ellriss said, nodding along with Kothe. “We should get going. I need to get him in the freezer soon, especially with how warm it is today.” 

“Alright. Thanks, guys,” Liryn said, waving as they got into the speeder and pulled away. Thrawn stood there with her, watching the speeder's trailer disappear behind the trees. Liryn shivered again as a cool breeze washed over them, and turned to the house. It was early afternoon now, the sun already on its way to setting thanks to the season. The afternoon light reflected off the wall of windows at the front of the house, casting a field of bright spots on the ground.

“Well, I'm going inside, it's too cold for me,” Liryn announced, making her way to the front door. “You can still come hang out, if you want.” She tossed this last part over her shoulder, hands around her upper-arms in the face of another gust of wind. Forks looked between her and Thrawn, then returned to watching Kiran cautiously. Thrawn eyed the clearing; it looked exactly as it had earlier, his view only reaching a yard into the trees because of the density of the foliage. At least the ground cover looked to be in the process of dying, the repeated freezes slowly wearing away at the hearty plants. Then he followed Liryn, who was already at the door and opening it. Kiran pushed his way ahead of her before she could enter, thoroughly scenting the air and running to the kitchen to do the same. Liryn huffed as Thrawn caught up to her, looking around the house. Thrawn waited for Forks to trundle in after them, then closed the door, sealing out the cold.


	8. Baby, It’s Cold Outside

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MERRY SHITSCRAM, EVERYONE!

“It doesn't look like anything's missing or out of place,” Liryn said. She scanned the floor around her feet. When she spotted her fallen comm, she carefully knelt down to grab it, making a wordless noise of effort when she pushed herself back to her feet. She shoved the comm into her pocket, walking around the couch and gently lowering herself onto it. Kiran, evidently satisfied with his findings in the kitchen, trotted into the living room, practically throwing himself onto a window seat left of the couch, surveying the room while he panted happily. Liryn rested her head against the back of the couch, craning her neck to look back at Thrawn.

“You can sit wherever,” she told him, “Or not. I just figured you'd want to sit down, with your leg and all.” She shrugged after she said this, and faced forward, sliding down further in her seat. Forks was wandering around, beeping quietly to himself as he looked at the house. He narrowly avoided catching his treads a few times on a large rug that covered the living room floor. Thrawn took a seat on the far end of the couch, suppressing a sigh at the relief of pressure on his leg. His shoulder was still sore, but it hadn't had as much strain on it as his leg had. On her end of the couch, Liryn had kicked her shoes off and tucked her legs half under her, leaning part of her weight on the armrest.

“This definitely sucks as much as I thought it would,” she said, “But hey, you're not going stir crazy anymore, right?” Thrawn hummed in thought, resting an elbow on his own armrest and resting his chin on his loosely curled fist.

“Today has certainly been – eventful,” he finally said, voice as nonchalant as if he hadn't found a dead man in her kitchen just a few hours earlier. Liryn snickered lightly, careful not to laugh too deeply and strain her stomach.

“I feel like that's a bit of an understatement, but you're not wrong.” She leaned forward, gritting her teeth as she grabbed a remote off the coffee table between the couch and fireplace. “Unless you've got any better ideas, I guess we're watching holovids, because I don't think there's much else I can do right now except sit around.” She clicked a button, and a screen was emitted from a small projector in the middle of the table.

“That's fine,” he told her, gently stretching his leg and arm to relieve some of the pins and needles sensation. He was feeling a bit tired himself, now that everything was said and done. He was still sure that there was something bigger at work than a single attempted murder, and that it involved Cos Juna. He was also confident that whatever the reason for the attempt on Liryn's life, those responsible would take some time to reevaluate their approach, rather than making another attempt immediately after the first one. That meant that he felt safe enough removing the blaster on his person to get more comfortable, but not enough to put it anywhere out of reach. He settled for a side pocket sewn into the outside of the couch's arm. He realized the house must have an actual heating system, after he kicked off his own boots, because it was pleasantly warm, despite the lack of a fire in the fireplace. Liryn was scrolling through titles on screen, very few of them familiar to him.

“Okay, I'm gonna need some input,” she said, evidently having given up her search, stopping on something called ' _Duke of the Night_ '. “What do you want to watch?”

“I can't say that I know much about holovids,” Thrawn told her, scanning the description on one half of the screen, while a series of still images from the vid were slowly cycled through on the other. The image changed, and his attention was drawn from the text as something in it caught his eye. He nearly did a double take, blinking in surprise at what, by all appearances, looked to be a younger Wilhuff Tarkin. “What is this one, exactly?” Liryn looked away from him and back to the screen.

“This? It's some vid that got made toward the end of the Clone Wars. It did decently well, for pretty much being pro-Republic propaganda. Like, the villain is some guy that looks _exactly_ like Count Dooku, and one of the protagonists apparently looks like one of the Republic's Admirals.” Thrawn hummed in agreement.

“Yes,” he replied, “That would be Wilhuff Tarkin. I must say, the resemblance is uncanny.” Liryn stared at him in surprise.

“Wait, you know that guy?” she asked, pointing to the not-Tarkin on the screen, and he nodded.

“He's a Moff, now.” he answered, and she was quiet for a moment.

“Well that just means that we have to watch it, now,” Liryn announced, turning back and starting the holovid. Thrawn didn't protest the decision, and settled more comfortably into the couch as dramatic music started, red text fading in and out over a panning shot of an old castle. The villain did in fact look strikingly similar to the Separatist Count, though the character was, as the title implied, a duke. It was indeed mild propaganda, hidden behind the veneer of being in some fantasy setting. He looked over something like halfway through the vid, and found Liryn dozing, propped up against the arm of the couch.

He'd been expecting her to crash as soon as she'd sat down on the couch, honestly, and was surprised that she'd managed to stay alert this long. The sun was past the tops of the trees surrounding the house now, the light coming in through the windows beginning to fade as an early sunset brought on by the season approached. Kiran seemed perfectly at ease, curled up on the bench he'd claimed earlier. If he was sleeping, it was only lightly; his ears gently twitched in Thrawn's direction when he shifted on the couch, purposefully making a little bit of noise to see if he'd catch the strill's attention. Otherwise, Thrawn didn't do anything; he just let the holovid play, and let himself actually relax.

When the vid finished, Liryn was still solidly asleep. Thrawn considered waking her up, if only so she could change what was clearly going to have been an uncomfortable position in a few hours. Then again, she'd only fallen asleep with the distraction of the vid, and clearly needed it. Instead of waking her, Thawn quietly stood up, careful not to jostle the couch too much. Kiran cracked an eye open when he stood, but almost immediately closed it again, settling further in the bench cushions with a soft sigh. Thrawn examined the room in a way he hadn't been able to before, too occupied with the possible danger to do more than identify cover and possible threats.

The wall of windows surrounding the front door offered an impressive view; the house sat on a slight incline, which meant that the treeline outside the widows was low enough so you could see the valley where the main road was. He could just make out the small line in the trees where they'd been cleared to make room for the road, as well as the much thinner ones that were the roads to the two cabins. Then the other side of the valley sloped up, into a snow capped mountain that extended into a range on either side. The sun was just peeking around the edge of the mountain, bathing the valley in a pale, almost otherworldly light. The cooler toned light was alien and ominous in a way that was hard to describe, and it reminded Thrawn that barely any of Nuxena was inhabited, that nearly all of the moon was still untamed wilderness.

In stark contrast to the view outside, the inside of the cabin was warm and inviting. The walls and floor were all smooth, warm-toned wood, with a thick rug underneath the couch and coffee table. Darker wooden beams followed the line of the walls at regular intervals, with crossbeams linking the beams overhead to match. The wall the fireplace was against was even with the back of the kitchen counter, which in turn had the end of a narrow table pressed against it, lined with three chairs on either side of it. Between the fireplace and the bench Kiran was laying on was a set of stairs, steeper than his own and leading to balcony that extended maybe a foot over the fireplace. The space behind it stretched back further than he could see.

Thrawn eyed the front windows with a small frown. He couldn't see any kind of curtains or blinds, though admittedly they'd have to be large to cover the entire wall. Perhaps the windows themselves had a built in darkening function? Either way, he may not have liked how exposed the windows currently made them, but there wasn't anything he could do about it at the moment. He did make sure the front door was locked, then moved to secure the kitchen door as well. It was a small comfort, but it was better than nothing. Now, he turned to the two interior doors in the kitchen. They weren't visually different from each other, or from the front or kitchen doors in fact. He opened the left one first, revealing a dark 'fresher. It matched the rest of the house, and it though was long and narrow to fit the line of the roof, it wasn't cramped. He checked the other door, and upon finding what was obviously Liryn's bedroom, gave it a once over from the doorway and left it be.

That just left the upstairs, which couldn't be very big, given the shape of the house. He glanced at Liryn as he passed in front of the fireplace. She was still dead to the world, and Kiran only snuffled quietly when Thrawn was forced to brush past him to reach the foot of the stairs. He was glad the stairs had an outer railing, because with how uncooperative his injured leg was being, he likely would have stumbled and fallen without it. He reached the top without more than a sour expression at the ache, and examined the room past the balcony. There was another, smaller couch with short bookcases on either side to his right, and the opposite wall had a desk and personal terminal. It was sturdier than you usually saw for personal use, and connected to a compact but powerful communications relay next to the desk. The light from the front windows reflected off another, smaller wall of windows around another door, interrupted on one side by a section of wall.

The pushed out section of wall had a door, and he found a smaller, more utilitarian refresher when he opened it. The other door, surrounded by windows, led to an outdoor balcony. He took the opportunity to scan the treeline behind the house from a higher vantage point. He didn't find anything, the same as the last few times, and locked the door when he went inside, just to be safe. There were also no curtains here, so he climbed back down the stairs to the first floor. He sat back down on the couch where he'd been earlier, scanning the house one more time. He halfheartedly scrolled through the list on the holoscreen, eventually circling back to the vid they'd watched after finding nothing.

Thrawn ended up browsing an actual, physical book that had been resting on the coffee table. It wasn't quite what he'd normally read, if given the choice, but it worked well enough while he waited for Liryn to wake up. Just left of the fireplace, under the stairs, Forks had found a charging port that the droid had plugged into for lack of anything better to do. A few hours passed, and Liryn only woke up once the sun had finally set. She sluggishly straightened, blinking to refocus her eyes. It took a minute, but soon she was mostly awake, and looking at Thrawn, apologetic and still a little sleepy.

“Sorry for falling asleep on you,” she said, stretching her legs and arms in front of her. Thrawn shook his head as he set the book aside.

“There's no need for an apology,” he told her. “It's been a rather tiring day, all things considered.” She looked at the screen, which had gone back to displaying information about the holovid once it had finished playing.

“So, was the ending any good? The last thing I remember is the doctor guy sending a letter?” Liryn asked, visibly more energetic than she'd been before her impromptu nap.

“It wasn't bad,” Thrawn told her, and he was being honest. It was definitely propaganda to some degree, but the story was couched in enough fiction to be enjoyable and make that easy to ignore. The most jarring thing remained the lead actor's resemblance to Tarkin. It really was as if he was watching a younger version of the man, who'd made a foray into acting sometime during his early military career. The only thing that made it absolutely clear that it _wasn't_ Tarkin was how much the actor emoted. Even now, Thrawn couldn't imagine the Moff showing more emotion than mild displeasure or aggravation, despite the actor's likeness. “Would you like to know what happened?”

“No, I'll just have to finish it later,” she replied with another gentle stretch. She looked over the back of the couch and out the windows, eyebrows raising. “How long did I sleep for?” Clouds had begun to roll in, edging closer and closer to obscuring the smattering of stars, and another of the moons orbiting Zuri II.

“A few hours, at least,” Thrawn said, also glancing back and out the windows. The faint light from the other moon was just enough to see the outline of the mountains that fenced the valley in. Liryn shifted to the side and dug her comm out of her pocket, activating the screen.

“It's already seven!” she exclaimed, disbelief coloring her voice, and Thrawn was surprised himself. He hadn't realized it had gotten so late, and it certainly hadn't felt like almost four hours had passed. Liryn rolled up and to her feet, then stopped as soon as she'd finished standing. She looked down in surprise, gingerly patting where her bandage was under her shirt.

“Oh wow, I knew bacta worked fast, but this seems a little ridiculous,” she said, applying a bit more pressure to the wound. Rather than a full cringe, it only elicited a small quirk of her mouth at the discomfort. Then she shrugged, walking into the kitchen; Kiran perked up as she turned the corner and left his sight, ears up and forward so he could keep track of her. “Anyway, we should probably eat something. I've got plenty of leftover stew, if you want some?” He watched her open the fridge, pulling out a large container of something, setting it on one of the counters with a huff.

“Shouldn't you be a bit more careful? You were shot just this morning,” Thrawn asked in a dry voice, and she rolled her eyes.

“Okay, _first of all,_ reheating leftovers is hardly some enormous strain,” Liryn replied, resting one forearm across the top of the container and propping her other fist on her hip. “Secondly, you're _also_ supposed to be resting so you can heal, and I'm not the one running around carrying hundred pound unconscious bodies.”

“I believe that was an extenuating circumstance,” Thrawn pointed out, voice deadpan and eyebrows raised.

“And lastly,” Liryn continued as if he hadn't said anything, her own brows raising in response, “Do you want some stew or not?” There was a short stare down, as Liryn looked at Thrawn expectantly, and he looked back as he thought.

“Only if you let me help,” he finally said, mimicking her own words from nearly a week earlier. She blinked at him, then unsuccessfully tried to stifle a laugh.

“Yeah, alright, fine,” she said, turning and opening a cabinet to retrieve a pair of bowls. “The _worst_ guest,” she snickered to herself, and then abruptly stopped with her free arm wrapped protectively over her stomach. “Ow, okay, laughing still hurts.” Thrawn pushed himself up off the couch, and at the motion Kiran jumped down off the bench to follow him into the kitchen.

“No, Kiran,” Liryn said, just at the sound of his claws on the floor. Thrawn walked past the fireplace and into the kitchen, and Kiran stopped to sit just outside the bounds of it. He looked at Liryn, and when he didn't find any sympathy there, turned to Thrawn instead. The strill looked up at him pleadingly with a soft, pitiful sound.

“Ignore him, he's just being a big baby because he doesn't understand that he's an obligate carnivore, and that he doesn't need all the extra non-meat things that are in here. This is people food, Kiran, stop begging.” Liryn said this last bit directly to the strill, who looked impossibly more heartbroken. She sighed, pulling a wider and shallower bowl out of a bottom cabinet.

“Can you grab his food out of the fridge? It'll be on the top shelf, looks like raw meat, you can't miss it,” she asked Thrawn, setting the third bowl to the side so she could spoon stew into the remaining two bowls. Thrawn slipped past her and opened the fridge, and easily found what she must be talking about.

“This?” he asked, and she nodded after glancing at it.

“Yep, just dump it into here, and put it down for him, please,” she said, nudging the empty shallow bowl with her elbow. The contents of the container had the consistency of raw ground meat, and looked to have something else mixed in. The smell was thankfully minimal, and it slid into the bowl easily. He carried the bowl into to the living room, keeping a careful eye on the now very excited strill. Thrawn watched him as he cautiously set the bowl down in front of the fireplace. For his part, Kiran stayed back, doing a nearly full-body wiggle, only rushing forward once Thrawn had taken a step away. When he was back in the kitchen, Liryn had put the container of stew away, and was heating the bowls.

“It won't take long,” Liryn told from where she was leaning against the counter. “I don't have any caf, not that it would be the best idea to drink it so late anyway, but I have tea if you want some? I think I have some hot chocolate mix too if you'd prefer.” She nodded towards a silver electric kettle on the opposite counter, its tiny control panel flashing to indicate it was heating.

“Tea is fine, thank you,” Thrawn told her, “Where do you keep it?”

“In the cabinet over the kettle. The mugs are up there too.” He nodded as he crossed the short distance, hearing her shift in place behind him. He took down two mugs, and a small wooden box, its clear lid revealing that it was full of tea bags. He returned the box after taking out two, placing one in each mug. When he turned around, Liryn had pulled herself up to sit on the counter. With the added height, this raised her high enough that she was only a few inches shorter than him when he leaned against his own counter. Thrawn crossed his arms, tilting his head ever-so-slightly as he thought.

“If you've recovered enough by then, tomorrow we should go to the mine to investigate,” he finally said. Liryn looked surprised, and the kettle beeped to indicate that it was finished heating. He turned to pour the water before she managed to reply.

“I would have thought you'd be trying to get me to wait longer, not tell me to get started immediately,” she said, leaning back on her hands.

“If Reyal has accomplices, they likely suspect that you survived the attempt, since he hasn't returned. The less time they have to plan, the better,” Thrawn explained. He heard her jump down from her perch, and looked over when she stepped up next to him to retrieve the heated bowls of stew.

“Well, whatever the reason is, I'm fine with it,” she told him, pushing one of the bowls across the counter towards him. “I was planning on going there tomorrow anyway, but are you sure it's a good idea for you to come? I thought you were supposed to be laying low, and you're kind of recognizable.” She loosely wrapped her hands around her own bowl to warm them, her face completely serious.

“Most people would recognize me by name, rather than appearance,” he replied, “If someone hasn't used the description of me that has without a doubt made the rounds by now to make the connection, it's unlikely that someone will in the future.” He removed the tea bags now that they'd steeped, and threw them away. Liryn was frowning in thought as she pulled out a spoon and a container of sugar, sweetening her tea before absentmindedly offering him the spoon.

“I still don't think it's anything bigger than just Reyal,” she said once he'd taken it, adding a little to his own tea and giving it a stir.

“And if it is, do you have any kind of training to defend yourself, if they decide to take the opportunity to finish what Druan Reyal failed to?” She huffed an aggravated sigh, then her shoulders relaxed in surrender.

“Fine, you're right,” she said, picking up her bowl and mug, leading the way out of the kitchen to take a seat at the dining table. Thrawn followed her, and he had barely seated himself across from her when a blindingly bright light flashed outside. Not even a split-second later, a massive clap of thunder rumbled, so close that the vibrations rattled the house. Liryn's head had snapped up at the light, and a few seconds later rain began pounding against the roof with a roar. They both watched as outside the front windows, the light reached just far enough to illuminate a wall of rain falling past.

“Oh boy,” Liryn said, “That's definitely going to freeze. I hope it won't be so bad that we can't get out of here tomorrow.” Thrawn watched as the rain gradually seemed to thicken, becoming more like sleet as the minutes passed.

“Is this common?” he asked, and she nodded.

“Yeah, there's usually a decently sized storm right before winter really sets in. I thought the one we just had was it, but well,” she gestured to the storm outside. They both watched it slowly turn into snow as they ate, and by the time they'd finished there was a growing blanket of white covering the ground outside. He was just finishing his tea, working out the logistics of getting to his speeder, and subsequently to the cabin, when Liryn set her now empty mug down with an air of finality.

“Alright, you're spending the night, there's no way I'm letting you drive back in this,” she announced. Thrawn sipped the last of his tea, looking at her coolly over the top of the mug.

“It's hardly such bad weather that I won't make it back,” he said, and she frowned at him, the concern clear on her face.

“Yeah, but at the rate this is going, everyone's going to be snowed in tomorrow, and your cabin isn't exactly equipped for that kind of situation. It'll work fine for cold weather, sure, but it's far from an ideal place to be snowed in at,” she countered. “Plus, if you _are_ right about Reyal, then you're just as much of a target as I am, and there's probably someone there right now laying in wait.” Thrawn frowned slightly, considering her argument.

“It hardly seems like you have the room here for a guest,” he said, “And I'm not very fond of the idea of sleeping on your couch.” Liryn shook her head.

“I have a sleeper sofa upstairs that's just as good as a regular bed,” she told him, then looked him over with a measuring eye. “My dad left some of his stuff the last time my parents came to visit, and it seems like you're about the same size from the look of it. You can borrow something to sleep in, and we can wash what you're wearing overnight.” Thrawn hummed noncommittally in response, unable to think of any more good arguments. He may not have been the one who'd been injured, but today had been much more draining than he'd grown used to on Nuxena. He was beginning to feel the fatigue from both his still healing injuries, and from the rush of adrenaline he'd gotten when he'd arrived at the house earlier. He also didn't really have a concrete reason he kept trying to find excuses to distance himself. Maybe it was how quickly and easily he and Liryn had become friends. He was used to not forming anything more than polite acquaintanceship from his time in the Imperial Navy, for more than just the fact that he wasn't human and nearly every other officer was.

“Thrawn?” Liryn asked, and he realized that he'd been lost in thought for a few minutes, and hadn't yet given her an answer to her suggestion. He blinked a few times to gather himself.

“Alright,” Thrawn acquiesced and a tension he hadn't noticed went out of Liryn. She let out a breath and stood, carrying her dishes to the sink.

“In that case, I'll go ahead and grab you something, and then I'll go pull the bed out,” she threw over her shoulder, disappearing into her bedroom. He couldn’t see her, but he could hear her open a drawer and start digging through it. Thrawn took his own things into the kitchen, glancing at Forks before he was out of sight. It was odd that the droid had been charging this whole time, without any reaction to the storm, or any sign of coming out of standby. He'd have to check on it before he slept, this could be something he'd need to take it back to Kothe for. Liryn nearly ran into him where he was standing at the sink, she came out of her room so quickly. She managed to catch herself, stepping to the side and avoiding him, nearly overbalancing for it.

“Whoops, sorry, didn't mean to almost run you over,” she said, carrying a bundle of clothing. When she saw he wasn't holding anything, she handed them to him. “Here, you can go change, and I'll go pull the bed out.” He'd barely taken them before she was already out of the kitchen, turning the corner and disappearing out of his sight. He could hear her climbing the stairs and examined what she'd given him. It wasn't anything much different from what he'd already been wearing to sleep in, just a loose shirt and pants. The only real difference was how soft they were, well worn from repeated use and washing. He changed in the downstairs bathroom and, as he was finishing, he heard a thump against the floor above him. There wasn't any indication that something was wrong, but he still tugged the shirt on a bit more aggressively than he normally would, exiting the bathroom and standing just inside of the shadow of the balcony.

“Liryn? Are you alright?” Thrawn asked. He tensed when he heard footstep, ready to throw himself back and into cover if he had to. Liryn's face peeked over the railing looking confused and he relaxed.

“What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. That was just me pulling out the bed,” she explained, “It's all ready to go.” She came down the stairs with a bounce, and Thrawn had the thought that she was much too energetic for someone who'd been shot not even twelve hours earlier, bacta or no. Kiran, who had been lounging on the floor in front of the fireplace next to his empty bowl, didn't even react when she hopped over him, leaning down and grabbing the bowl.

“Are you feeling alright?” he asked her, eyeing her as she brushed past him and into the kitchen again.

“Yeah, why?” She didn't look up from where she was rinsing Kiran's food dish out and washing it.

“Well,” he began, “You suffered a blaster wound severe enough to cause you to lose consciousness earlier today, not that I'd be able to tell with how much energy you seem to have.” She'd finished washing the bowl, and was now drying it with a hand towel.

“Oh, it's the nap,” she laughed, putting the now dried bowl back into the cabinet it had come from. “I'm going to crash super hard in less than an hour, probably. I'm just trying to get things done before I do.” Now that she'd stopped moving around so much, he could indeed see her energy starting to wane. She stifled a sudden yawn, perfectly illustrating her point. She shook her head as she looked over the kitchen, ensuring everything was where it should be.

“If you don't need me, I'm gonna go ahead and go to bed,” she said around another, wider yawn.

“No, go ahead,” he told her and she nodded.

“Okay. Goodnight,” she half mumbled over her shoulder, turning to enter her room.

“Goodnight,” he replied. He looked over the living room once and, when he found nothing, headed upstairs, but not before retrieving the blaster from its place in the couch's side pocket. He climbed the stairs, and in the place the couch had been was a comfortable looking bed. He pulled back the sheets and settled in, sliding the blaster within easy reach under the extra pillow. The lights in the house dimmed about ten minutes later, and the house was quiet. He could just barely hear the soft snuffle of Kiran breathing downstairs and the hum of the house's heating system. The bed was just as soft as it looked, though it wasn't quite as comfortable as the actual bed in his cabin, but that was to be expected. He took a deep breath, letting all the vigilance induced tension drain from his body, quickly falling asleep once he did.


	9. Minebound

When Thrawn woke up, the sun was just beginning to rise. At some point in the night the snow had stopped, leaving behind a smooth and unbroken white surface that he could see through the front windows without having to even get up. In his half-asleep state, he was tempted to go back to sleep for another hour or two, his internal clock insisting that the lack of sunlight was evidence that it was too early to be awake. Between the thick duvet and the house's heating, he was certainly warm enough to be able to doze a little. He reached for his comm so he could check the time, blindly searching the other side of the bed for the spot he'd left it. He left his face buried in the pillow until he found it, automatically listening for any out of place sounds from the rest of the house. The heating system was still a quiet hum, and there weren't any odd noises that stood out.

His hand finally closed around the comm, and he turned his head just enough to get an eye open. Blinking to clear the sleep from his vision so he could read the display, Thrawn squinted at the harshly bright numbers in the low light until his eyes adjusted. According to the comm, it was already nearly nine in the morning. He put it down, stretching gently before sitting up properly. Sleeping in a house that was warm the entire night had definitely been easier on his arm and leg, and he barely felt them protest when he moved. He looked out the windows again to try and gauge the depth of the snow. It was difficult to do so accurately from this angle and position, but it couldn't be more than two feet deep. Two feet of snow was far from ideal, but it wasn't so much that it couldn't be cleared, given a reasonable amount of time.

Despite the comfortable warmth of the house, the floor still had a slight chill to it when he brought his legs over the edge of the bed. He ignored it easily enough, only giving a quick shiver when he first put his feet down. He pocketed his comm, and went to go down the stairs, but paused at the top. At the bottom was Forks, dome swiveling back and forth as it tried to figure out how it was going to get upstairs. After a moment it noticed him, optics brightening as it let out a pleased chirp. The droid backed out of the way as he came down, and beeped insistently that he needed to eat. It was more reassuring than he'd expected to have it behaving normally, and Thrawn hummed in acknowledgment as he passed Forks on his way to the kitchen.

He didn't see Liryn anywhere, in either the kitchen or the living room. It was very likely that she was still asleep, since her body was healing more quickly with the application of bacta, and therefore using more energy. Kiran wasn't anywhere to be seen either, but he had probably moved into Liryn's room sometime during the night, since her door was open just enough for the strill to have squeezed through. Thrawn took a look just to be safe, and there he was, stretched out and taking up one entire side of the bed. The blanket was so thick and fluffy that he almost couldn't make out the lump that was Liryn, since only the top half of her head was visible, and Kiran was nearly obscuring even that from view with his bulk. He left them both to their sleep, closing the door enough to block too much sound from getting through.

Thrawn refilled the kettle, setting it to heat. It was a shame that Liryn didn't have any caf, he thought, grabbing two mugs and a couple tea bags of one of the more caffeinated blends. While he hadn't been prone to drinking much of it before coming to Nuxena, he'd fallen into the habit of having some every morning, in the course of trying to a establish a routine. He searched through the contents of the fridge, looking over the options for what would be a late breakfast at this point. There was a mostly full carton of eggs, so he took those out, and began hunting through the cabinets and drawers for a pan and spatula. Once he'd found them, he set the pan over one of the eyes of the stove, and cracked a couple of eggs into it. Through the open door, he heard Liryn softly grumbling something at Kiran, and added a third and fourth egg to the pan. A minute later, Kiran came trotting out of the bedroom, flopping to a seat on the floor next to him. The strill watched him scramble the eggs, looking up at him winsomely and leaning against his leg when Thrawn glanced down.

He reached a hand down, and Kiran immediately shoved his nose into Thrawn's palm in search of a treat. The strill seemed disappointed when he found none, and begrudgingly allowed himself to be petted briefly. When it was clear that Thrawn wouldn't be convinced to feed him, Kiran slunk off to the living room, splaying himself in front of the door with a huff. The kettle beeped, and Thrawn stopped cooking just long enough to pour some of the hot water into both mugs, quickly returning to the stove to be sure the eggs didn't burn. He was turning off the burner just as Liryn appeared, emerging from the bedroom with a yawn.

“Good morning,” Thrawn said, moving the pan off the hot burner and onto a cool one.

“Good morning,” Liryn responded, blinking as she watched him pull two plates out of a cabinet, as well as grab a pair of forks from a drawer. “You made breakfast?”

“I did,” he answered, splitting the eggs evenly between the plates, and holding one out to her.

“Oh. Thank you.” She took it from him, spearing a bit of egg and bringing it to her mouth, chewing happily.

“It's good,” she told him, then spotted the steaming mugs on the counter. “And you made tea, too?” Thrawn nodded, staying silent around his mouthful of food. They each grabbed their mugs, carrying them to the table and sitting in the same places as the night before. Liryn looked down when Kiran nudged her leg, looking pitiful, and made a wordless sound or realization. She got up, walking back into the kitchen, pulling out another container of the strill's food and dumping it into the same bowl. She set it in front of the fireplace before coming back to the table, taking a sip from her mug after she'd sat down.

“Really, thanks for making breakfast. You didn't have to,” she said, and took another bite of her eggs.

“It was no trouble,” Thrawn replied, “How are you feeling?” She hummed around her current mouthful, patting her stomach.

“Pretty good. I think the wound itself is as healed as the bacta is going to get it, so I'll go ahead and take that off before we leave. Speaking of –,” she turned in her seat, leaning back a little to get a good look out the windows. She hummed to herself, eyes narrowed in thought as she looked at the snow. Thrawn looked over too, and his eyebrows rose of their own accord. The angle really had made it difficult to accurately measure the snow; what had looked like maybe two feet was actually more like three and a half. That certainly complicated things. Liryn was still thinking, her head tilting to one side and her mouth quirking as she did.

“Yeah, we should be okay. It's a little higher than I'd like, but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be,” Liryn finally announced. She turned back to her food, picking a large piece of egg and shoving it in her mouth. She chugged the rest of her tea once her eggs were gone, picking them both up as she stood.

“I'll go get your clothes out of the dryer so you can get dressed, then we can head out. Sound good?” she asked, taking her plate and mug into the kitchen.

“Yes,” Thrawn answered, standing and bringing his own dishes in as she disappeared briefly into the bathroom. She came back with the clothes he'd been wearing the day before, bundled together and still toasty from being dried.

“Then I'll go get dressed,” she said, handing his clothes over, then turned right back around to go into her bedroom, “I'll be ready in about ten minutes!” She shut the door behind her this time and Thrawn walked back upstairs to change. It didn't take him much time at all and he made sure to grab the blaster before he left, tucking it into the back of his waistband for lack of a proper holster. At least there it would be hidden by his coat, but still be within reach. He went back down, sitting on the couch to pull his boots back on. Forks, though he hadn't said anything earlier when they'd been talking, was now chirping questions at him, giving Kiran a wide berth still as it rolled closer.

“We're going to the mine, to look into why someone might want Liryn dead,” he explained, and the droid let out a concerned warble. “Yes, I am aware it will be dangerous. That is why you're going to stay here.” The droid let out squawk of protest, and Thrawn held up a hand to silence it.

“You will stay here, and receive a comm ping from me every thirty minutes. If the ping is late, you don't receive it, or I send you a message telling you something is wrong, you will contact the Empire immediately,” he told it quietly, mindful of Liryn overhearing him. She didn't come storming out into the room, so he assumed she hadn't heard him. Forks shifted back and forth anxiously for a few minutes, beeping indecisively the whole while. Thrawn pinned it with a look, and the droid slumped down on it's struts, giving him an affirmative whistle. It was just in time too, because not a minute later Liryn came out. She was dressed much the same as she'd been every other time he'd seen her, but now her hair was pulled back into a tight braid that ran from the top and down the back of her head. She had a scarf wrapped around her neck, and was carrying another one that she passed off to him.

“Here, it's pretty cold out. Do you have a hat?” she asked him, taking her coat off a rack to the far left of the door and pulling it on.

“I'm afraid not,” he replied, wrapping the scarf around himself and tucking it into his own coat.

“Okay, then you can borrow one of mine,” Liryn said, tossing him a plain black knit cap, pulling on a gray one herself. He caught it easily, tugging it over his head. They both put their gloves on, then Liryn slapped her hand against her thigh twice, and Kiran seemed to appear from nowhere to stand next to her.

“Are you certain it's wise to bring him?” Thrawn asked, eyeing the strill. Kiran just stood there, tail wagging at the prospect of going outside.

“What do you mean?” Liryn asked, brows furrowing.

“As far as we know, your attackers don't know about him. It gives us an advantage the longer we keep it that way,” he explained, and a full frown crossed her face.

“Yes, but what if someone attacks us while we're there, like you said yesterday?” she said. “He can't help if he's not with us.” Thrawn mulled this over for a moment, putting together something in his head.

“How quickly can he reach you, if you call him from a distance? Say, for example, if you were here, and he was at the main road?” Liryn hummed as she thought.

“Maybe ten minutes, less than even that if there aren't too many trees he has to dodge. If it's an open plain, he could probably make it in two or three if he's going full tilt,” she told him.

“Can you send him into the woods around the mine, and be confident that he'd stay out of sight, without wandering too far?” Thrawn asked, and Liryn blinked, looking down at Kiran, who was beginning to shift around impatiently.

“If I let him outside and tell him to go, I usually won't see him until I call him back,” she said, expression contemplative as she looked at the strill. “Around the house, he doesn't go too far. His sense of smell is extremely sensitive, so I don't think he'd go far enough that he wouldn't be able to easily find me again.” She glanced back up at Thrawn, who nodded at her assessment.

“Then I believe that's our best course of action, if you want to bring him. Does that sound acceptable?” he asked her, and she thought for a moment more before nodding.

“Yeah, that sounds like the best option. Let's go.” She led the way out the door, Kiran by her side, with Thrawn bringing up the rear and closing the door behind them. The speeder he'd come in was solidly entrenched, the upper half of the speeder just visible under a thick layer of snow. Liryn snapped her fingers, pointing towards the outbuilding where he assumed her own speeder must be.

“Go, Kiran!” At the command, the strill leapt forward, trudging through the snow easily with the use of all six of his legs. This also created a handy path that they were easily able to walk through behind him, and after reaching the door, Kiran went bouncing off around the rest of the clearing. Liryn smiled as she watched him, and when they reached the door, she tapped an almost hidden keypad that blended into the color of the building. The door rose, and her speeder sat inside, completely snow free.

“You know, if I'd had a bit more warning, I would have made some updates to the cabin,” Liryn told him, opening the driver side door and climbing in. “It gets used pretty much exclusively during the summer, and I'm sure it's not easy having to haul wood in all the time, or open the garage door manually.”

“It's alright,” Thrawn replied, climbing in himself. “I've actually found the exercise to be helpful. It's given me something to do besides read at least, even if it was more difficult at first.” From the outside, Liryn's speeder appeared identical to his own, like a standard (if older) landspeeder. Inside, however, the controls marked it clearly as being a low altitude airspeeder. It still probably wouldn't go higher than maybe thirty feet at most, but it would certainly be capable of clearing the amount of snowfall they'd gotten. She started the speeder, pulling forward a little and nudging the first few feet of snow away with the speeder's nose. She reached back, popping open the back door on her side and pushing it open. Then she rolled down her window, giving a quick, sharp whistle.

Kiran was out of sight, the trail he'd left through the snow crisscrossing over itself at too many points to count, but only a scant few seconds after Liryn had whistled, he came bounding into view. There was snow tangled in the ends of his fur, not that he seemed to mind it. He shook himself vigorously, sending small clumps of snow flying all around him, then climbed into the back seat. Liryn reached back again, closing the door, then angled the speeder up, going over the snow now instead of through it. She tapped something on the console, and the outbuilding's door began to close behind them. They didn't go higher than a few feet above the snow, following the road away from the house.

The added height put them closer to the lower branches of the trees lining the road, and between that and the snow weighing the branches down, their thin, needle-like leaves brushed against the roof in an almost rhythmic sound. The snow was heaviest in the very middle of the road, the trees having provided a little bit of relief the farther you got from it, creating a gentle slope down nearly half a foot before leveling out again. Except for the sound of the speeder's engine, and the whispering brush of branches on the roof, the forest around them was silent. Thrawn supposed that was to be expected. The storm and accompanying snow had been sudden, and even now the sun had barely risen high enough to reach over the mountain behind them.

“So,” Liryn said as she turned the speeder onto the main road, waiting a moment to be certain she had his attention. “Do you have a plan you want me to follow, or are you just going to leave the questioning entirely up to me?”

“It would be best to let them believe that we think Druan Reyal was a lone wolf,” Thrawn answered after a moment of thought, and she nodded in agreement. “Otherwise, behave as you normally would. We don't want anyone who might be involved to get suspicious.”

“Alright,” she said, “This isn't really a normal situation, but I'll do my best.” She glanced at him, and must have seen something in his expression, because she huffed, rolling her eyes. “Look, I don't exactly have any experience with this kind of – subterfuge and spy shenanigans. Yeah, I'm technically a governor, but I'm _definitely_ not a politician. You probably know way more than I do about this, if what I know about the Empire's military is at all accurate.” She shrugged once she'd finished, adjusting the speeder's angle slightly to level it off.

Thrawn could easily see that. Liryn had been very forthcoming the entire time he'd known her, considering that she was by her own admission not very fond of the Empire, and while she was personable enough, she certainly didn't edge around things the way even a new and inexperienced politician might. She was also correct in her assumption; a good portion of his military career, both leading up to and after he'd been promoted to Grand Admiral, had had him dealing with situations that required a lighter touch than the Emperor trusted some of the more glory hounding officers to have.

“You do not need to be an expert,” he assured her, “I'm confident that you will do just fine.”

“Your confidence has been noted,” she replied in a dry, sarcastic voice. Then, in a much more sincere tone, “Thanks.” After that, the trip passed in a comfortable silence. About a twenty minute drive from the road to Liryn's house, the road changed from mostly straight to a series of wide curves, taking them along the foot of a mountain. Ten minutes of winding road later, they came to a cleared area that was very obviously not naturally occurring. The shape of it was too perfect of a square, and extended symmetrically on both sides of the road. There were closely crowded groupings of buildings on both sides, and the road itself ended in a large open area filled with transports coming from and entering a wide tunnel in the side of the mountain. Liryn pulled up to one of the buildings on the right, lowering the speeder and parking near the entrance. The snow in the entire area had been cleared, pushed towards the treeline, and creating a thick barricade of snow in the process.

They both climbed out, bracing themselves against the chill. Liryn glanced around before opening the back door, making sure there was no one in sight. She got a solid handhold on Kiran's collar, keeping him from running off as he hopped out. Gently tugging, she directed the strill to face the way they'd come, towards the trees rather than the road itself, and at an angle that gave him a straight shot to the treeline without passing within view of the activity in the mine.

“Go, Kiran,” she told him quietly, pointing in the direction she'd turned him, then letting go of his collar. He was off like a shot, easily scrambling up the snow bank, then disappearing behind it when he cleared the peak. She looked over at Thrawn, who was still standing by the speeder on the other side of it from her.

“I really hope you're wrong,” she said, not unkindly. “I really don't want to get shot at again, once was more than enough.” She turned, walking towards the only door on this side of the building. Thrawn followed closely, keeping his face a blank mask as he carefully scanned their surroundings. Liryn dug a gloved hand out of her pocket so she could open the door, hurrying in so he could follow her out of the cold. She breathed a relieved sigh once the door was closed, and the warmth from inside the building washed over them. She removed her gloves, shoving them into her pockets and flexing her fingers to get feeling back in them, beginning to walk down a short hallway, Thrawn keeping pace beside her.


	10. The Best-Laid Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re in the home stretch! The next two chapters will be posted on Saturday and Sunday respectively, because I’m too impatient to wait for the new year.

The interior of the building consisted of a mid-sized room, with a few tables surrounded by chairs. There was a bulletin board near the door, with charts and schedules pinned to it. In one of the upper corners of the board, someone had taped a cutout of a tooka wearing a hardhat and bandana, both with the mining company's logo on them. The hallway Liryn was leading them down had doors spaced evenly on both sides, each with a identifying tag on the wall next to it. She stopped in front of one on the left, the second to last door on that side. The tag next to it read ' _T. Zorabos_ ', and Liryn knocked solidly on it three times, then waited.

“Come in,” they heard a few moments later, the words muffled slightly by the door. She opened it, revealing a middle aged man sitting behind a desk piled high with papers, typing something into a datapad. He looked up at them after a few seconds, and he looked surprised to see Liryn.

“Ms. Morastus. I didn't expect to see you again so soon,” he said, gaze darting to Thrawn and back. He stood, leaning over his desk a little to extend a handshake to her. Liryn gripped his offered hand for a brief moment, letting go and looking at him with a serious expression.

“I didn't either, but recent events have made it necessary,” she said, purposefully vague. Thrawn was sure he caught a brief flicker of something in the man's eyes, but it was quickly hidden behind a concerned frown as he seated himself once more.

“Not another bear, I hope,” he said, “I still haven't been able to find any evidence that one of my workers has done anything, and it doesn't do anyone any good to start a witch hunt.” He glanced at Thrawn again. “And who's this?”

“This is the accountant I hired, Tam Mardin,” Liryn lied, no sign of hesitation in it. Thrawn blinked in surprise, but otherwise remained stoic. “And I'm afraid it's a bit more serious than a bear, Tokrin.” She'd crossed her arms now, face stern, and Tokrin actually looked a little scared, but then his expression settled back into concern.

“What happened?” he asked, a bit of hesitancy creeping into his voice.

“Someone broke into my house, and tried to kill me,” she said, and Tokrin's face paled. “We were able to identify him as Druan Reyal, one of the workers here.”

“Well, I'm glad you're alright,” he said, voice a little shaky. “How can I help?”

“I'm going to need all the records you have on him,” Liryn told him, her tone no-nonsense and leaving no room for argument.

“Yes, of course,” Tokrin almost mumbled, tapping something into his datapad, “That's a lot of files, it might take some time to get them all together–”

“I'll wait,” she interrupted smoothly, and Tokrin just nodded, mouth snapping shut.

“Then please, help yourself to the break room,” he finally managed. Liryn fixed him with a penetrating gaze, and for a second he seemed like he was going to panic. Then she nodded, and the man did a rather convincing impression of a balloon deflating when she turned to leave. Thrawn stepped aside to let her pass, and spared Tokrin one last glance before he followed her. She was already back in the other room, perched on the edge of one of the tables rather than sitting in one of the many chairs.

“I _told_ you I was going to be awful at this,” she hissed when he was close enough. He scanned the room, then pulled out a chair that gave him a good view of the door, and quick access to the cover of the hallway. Liryn sighed in frustration, then followed his lead, taking the seat next to him.

“It could have gone worse,” Thrawn said diplomatically, keeping his voice low. “Either way, I believe we'll soon find out if Reyal had accomplices or not.” She hummed, and seemed a little disappointed.

“Yeah, whatever it is, Tokrin definitely knows about it. And I always thought he was pretty alright,” Liryn sighed, matching Thrawn's volume. She slid down into a slump, leaning forward to prop her chin on one hand. “So, what now? If you're right, then based on how much I managed to muck the whole 'subtlety' thing up, Tokrin's probably scrambling to tell everyone what's up.” Thrawn kept a wary eye on both the door leading outside, and on the hallway that led to the offices.

“We wait. If they don't panic, then they'll give us incomplete or doctored information on Reyal to give themselves more time to plan. If they do, then we'll likely have to force our way out,” he told her. Liryn stared at him, eyebrows raised so high they nearly disappeared under her hat.

“Did you _see_ Tokrin? He's totally panicking!” Her voice raised a little at the end, and she covered her mouth when she realized it, glancing at the hallway in concern. No doors opened, and neither of them heard anything in the silence. Liryn let herself relax marginally when it was clear they hadn't been overheard. “I think we have to assume we're fighting our way out of here,” she finished, voice low once more.

“Not necessarily,” Thrawn replied, “That's assuming that Tokrin is in charge of whatever is going on.” Liryn seemed skeptical, so he explained his thought. “Based on his reactions when you confronted him, Tokrin may own and run the mine itself, but I find it very unlikely that he has much say in the major decisions concerning the operation Druan Reyal is a part of.” She visibly turned this information over, finally conceding to his point with a nod.

“Alright,” she said, “That does make sense, with what I know about him. So I guess we wait.” She settled herself more firmly in the chair, letting out a small huff. “This could take awhile.”

“Yes,” Thrawn agreed, still remaining vigilant. They both stayed silent after that; the only thing to do now was wait, tedious though it might be. Something close to ten minutes passed with no sign of movement from either the door or the hallway. Liryn had pulled her hat off, attempting to hold off becoming too warm in the building's heated interior, but unwilling to really get comfortable and thus increase the time it would take to bundle up again so she could safely go outside. Thrawn had allowed his mind to wander slightly, still keeping watch while he considered the best way to make a quick escape, should they need one. Liryn had been looking at the bulletin board, but now she was staring down the hallway, drumming her fingers against the table, while her mouth slowly pulled into a small frown as she thought. He startled a little when she abruptly jumped to her feet with a curse, his head whipping around to look at her. Before he could even ask her why, she was running down the hallway, skidding to a stop and throwing Tokrin's office door open. Thrawn caught up to her in time to see the empty office as she cursed for a second time.

Tokrin was nowhere to be seen, and his office seemed completely undisturbed. Thrawn's eyes narrowed as he thought. He and Liryn had both been watching the hallway the entire time, and even if they hadn't, at least one of them would have heard the door opening and closing. The hallway was straight, ending in a blank wall, the rest of the doors placed wrong for leading outside. So how had Tokrin left the office, much less the building, without them seeing him?

“I can't _believe_ I'm such an idiot!” Liryn said, not bothering to lower her voice now. “I forgot that there's an emergency exit in his office!” She entered the office, pushing at a tall bookcase against the back wall. It resisted at first, then easily slid aside without a sound, revealing a small depression in the wall with a slotted handle. There was also a handle on the back of the bookcase, nearly flush with its back, presumably for moving it from the other side. Aside from the datapad Tokrin had been using when they entered, the desk was just as it had been when they'd last seen it.

“We should leave,” Thrawn said, waiting a moment to be sure Liryn was following him, then starting for the front door at a brisk pace.

“Yeah. I've got a bad feeling about this,” Liryn muttered, following close behind him. She tugged her hat and gloves back on as they walked, and he tucked his own scarf more securely into his jacket. Thrawn paused just before the door, reaching back and drawing the blaster he'd taken off of Reyal. He heard a rustling of fabric behind him, and glanced over his shoulder at Liryn. She had unzipped her jacket, and was in the process of unbuttoning the shirt that made up her top layer, revealing a strap that went diagonally across her chest over her undershirt. She reached back, grabbing something at the small of her back, bringing around a compact blaster rifle that the strap was attached to. He felt the surprise on his face, and Liryn looked up as she unclipped one end of the sling to take it from around her torso without removing her layers.

“What? You said that you thought there was something else going on. Did you really think I was going to come here unarmed, after someone's already tried to kill me?” She clipped the sling back on, putting it over her shoulder so that she could button her shirt again. Once her jacket was zipped back up, she readjusted the rifle so she'd be ready to shoot, sling still wrapped around her shoulder. Thrawn only hummed quietly in reply, turning to the door again. It was completely solid, so there wasn't any way to see outside without opening it. He slowly twisted the handle, cracking the door open just enough to get a thin slice of a view outside. He couldn't see any immediate threat, but that didn't mean much. The speeder was still out of view, and that was the best place for someone to attempt an ambush. He carefully edged the door open further, blaster up and ready, keeping as much of himself behind the wall as he could. He could just see the front corner of the speeder when a blaster bolt impacted the wall directly next to the door, and he slammed it shut.

“It seems that Reyal does indeed have accomplices,” Thrawn said mildly, turning the manual lock on the door. He double checked his blaster to be sure it was off stun; they weren't in a position to try and capture someone to question them, and that had clearly not been a stun bolt. The door would hold up to a moderate amount of abuse, which would be enough to buy them some time. “Does Tokrin know that you're aware of the exit in his office?” Liryn shook her head, already turned and walking back to the office.

“Nope. I found it by chance and never mentioned it to him,” she said. They walked in and around the desk to where the bookcase was still pushed aside. Liryn pulled on the handle and, when it resisted, yanked on it harder with a grunt. Finally, some mechanism clicked, and the door opened, sliding to the side with the pop and hiss of a pressure seal being broken. She froze, looking over at Thrawn in surprise at the sound. The cold air he'd expected to flow through the gap never came, and they each moved to either side of the doorway without a word. Liryn pushed the door open from the safety of the wall next to it, quickly drawing her hand back as it slid aside easily. They both waited and, after a moment of hearing nothing, she peeked through the doorway. Her eyes darted around as she scanned whatever was on the other side, and seemingly satisfied with what she saw, stepped away from the wall and through the doorway. Thrawn followed her through, blaster still at the ready.

What they'd thought was a hidden exit actually led to a small, windowless room. There was a single light fixture on the ceiling, bright enough to reduce the shadows in the corners of the room to almost nothing. While it wasn't nearly as cold as it was outside, it wasn't nearly as warm as the office had been, and the lack of heat was actually a bit of a relief with how heavily they were dressed. On the opposite wall was a stairwell leading downwards and Liryn walked over, cautiously looking over the railing.

“It doesn't go very far down,” she told him, “It's only one flight. I don't see anything down there, either, looks like it's another room like this one.” Thrawn looked between the stairs and the still open doorway back to the office. He listened closely, but he couldn't hear any attempts to open the front door, or anyone moving around inside. That meant they were expecting them to either get desperate and make a run for the speeder, or until they got impatient themselves and broke down the door to reach them. Either way, it wouldn't do them any good to stand around in the office, doing nothing. He pulled the bookcase back into place, then closed the door after it. There was a sturdy floor and ceiling deadbolt on this side of it, which he slid into place. Tokrin must have been in too much of a hurry to bother with them, confident that Liryn didn't know to look for the door in the first place. With another layer to slow down whoever would be following them, he walked to the stairs and started down them. Liryn gave him an incredulous look as he passed, but followed him down with a soft sigh.

“This feels like a bad idea,” she muttered.

“This is currently our best option,” Thrawn answered without looking back, quickly looking over the room when they got to the bottom. It was about the same size as the room they'd come from above it, the main difference being that there were two hallways, each branching off in a different direction. He did some quick mental calculations as Liryn stepped down, stopping beside him to examine the room herself. Both the hallways had a curve to them, making it impossible to see further than a few yards in. If he was right, then one led in the direction of the mine and the mountain it cut into, curving around it, and the other went in the direction of the woods between the mine and the town. Possibly one connected to the mine, or to some other building, and the other to an actual emergency exit. He started for the one that seemed to lead away from the mine, and hopefully to an exit. The hall was wide enough that Liryn could walk next to him, and even though his leg slowed his pace a little, she was still taking two steps for each of his because of their height difference.

“So, is there a plan now, or are we just kind of making this up as we go?” she said conversationally, looking over her shoulder as they rounded the bend in the tunnel. Thrawn kept his eyes ahead, watching the curved wall of the tunnel as more was revealed.

“Based on the position,” he replied, “This tunnel is the most likely to lead to an exit. Since we now know that Reyal wasn't working alone, and that the mine itself is involved, we need reinforcements.” Liryn frowned, facing forward again as the tunnel straightened out.

“I hate to say it, but you're right,” she finally said, breaking the silence that had stretched between them. “I guess this means you're calling the Empire, doesn't it?” Thrawn looked over at her, but she just kept staring straight ahead.

“Yes,” he said after a pause. He did feel a little bad about it, now that Liryn had told him why she was so against it. He himself had seen exactly how the Empire did things, and the lengths most of the people in command would go to, to further or maintain their standing, and not just in the Empire's military. Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't going to contact the Empire. Liryn and her makeshift police force were woefully under-equipped to handle the situation, that much was clear. Not to mention that the mining company was technically working directly for the Empire. That didn't mean he was going to be happy to do it; it was clear that Liryn's aversion to a military presence on Nuxena came from her concern for the people living there, and for the moon itself. It was something he could respect.

They walked in silence after that. Thrawn's stamina had started to build back up, slowly but surely, but after almost ten minutes of the quick pace he'd set initially, his leg was beginning to ache. The entire length of the hallway was plagued by long curves, just enough to cut the visible distance down to twenty foot increments. There were enough of them to throw his sense of direction off, and when they finally rounded a bend to find a dead end and a ladder, he wasn't entirely certain what direction they were facing now. Though he hadn't noticed any incline or angle to the floor, the ladder was about half as tall as he would have expected, compared to the height of the staircase they'd come down. At the top of it was a round hatch with a handle-like lever meant to be pulled to one side. They both stopped at the bottom of the ladder, examining the hatch at the top. It went three feet or so above the hallway's ceiling, which left it dimly lit.

“So, who's going up first?” Liryn asked. She lifted the sling of her rifle over her head, so it laid diagonally across her chest once more in preparation for the climb.

“I will,” Thrawn said after a moment of thought. “If there's someone guarding this exit, then it will be easier to shoot my blaster one-handed than your rifle.”

“Alright,” she said, and took a step back to give him a more comfortable amount of space. His leg protested as he began to climb, and he did his best to ignore it, with the knowledge that the distance was short. He reached the top and the vertical tunnel the ladder entered was narrow enough to lean his back against and free both hands. He'd tucked his blaster into his waistband before he'd started climbing, and used both hands to push the handle to its open position. It refused to budge at first, then slowly began to move, metal creaking from the cold until it came to a stop at the opposite edge of the hatch. He laid the palm of his good hand flat against it, pushing up gradually to make sure it was actually open and would lift. It did, but only raised a few inches, revealing a band of packed snow in the gap. He went up a few rungs, then gave it a solid shove with his shoulder. The resistance gave way at that, allowing the hatch to open fully.

Half a foot of snow greeted him, and had been what was holding the hatch down. His shove had been abrupt enough to send it sliding off, piling behind the open hatch. Thrawn looked around, head up just enough to peek over the snow and scan the small clearing they were in. He didn't find anything in his careful examination of the treeline, and the only tracks inside the clearing were the small prints left by birds, barely denting the crispy top layer of snow. If the snowfall had been similar to what was at the house, that meant the hatch extended two and a half to three feet above ground. He climbed further up the ladder, bracing one arm on the lip of the tunnel and using the other to clear some snow. In doing so, he found that, possibly due to the trees leaning over to obscure the edges of the clearing's skyline, the snow here was only a foot and a half deep. When he'd finished clearing a small space, he climbed out, wading a few feet away and back so he'd have more room. He looked through the trees again while Liryn came up, stopping right at the top.

“We good?” she asked, leaning upwards slightly to try and see over the snow.

“Yes, I believe so,” Thrawn said after a minute. He offered her a hand, helping her pull herself out of the hatch. She stumbled a little as her foot caught on the lip of the tunnel, but was able to right herself before she overbalanced. She looked around the clearing properly now, then squinted at the sun, which was directly overhead.

“Well, looks like no using the sun to find out which way is which,” she muttered. She adjusted her sling so it was only over her shoulder again, while Thrawn pulled the hatch up and back down so that it was closed. There was a matching lever on this side, so he pulled it closed with a huff of exertion. “Think it's safe for me to call Kiran?”

“Go ahead. We should be far enough that they won't be able to pinpoint our location by sound alone,” Thrawn replied. Liryn took a deep breath, then let out a piercing whistle, loud enough that it echoed through the valley they were in. He flinched involuntarily at the sheer volume of the sound, despite expecting it, and she looked over at him apologetically.

“Sorry, I forget how loud that actually is for other people,” she said, shifting her weight to her other foot. “We can start moving once we find the right direction, that will get him close enough to be able to smell us, and then he'll find us that way.” Thrawn shook his head to clear it, then nodded pulling out his comm to check the time. It had been more than half an hour since he'd sent a check-in to Forks, so by now the Empire should have received his message, and sent help, with the codes he'd given Forks to use. He tried to remember what he'd read about Nuxena's geomagnetic properties in relation to their direction, pulling up the rudimentary vector magnetometer built into his comm. He turned in place to test the measurement, and did so just in time for a blaster bolt to glance off his left shoulder, rather than hitting it full on.


	11. Who You Gonna Call?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one more chapter to go!

Thrawn nearly dropped his comm, immediately falling to a knee while clutching the blaster wound with his right hand. He heard Liryn move next to him, quickly followed by the rapid sound of her firing her rifle. Then she dropped next to him, putting a hand on his uninjured shoulder and leaning in to get a better look at where he'd been hit.

“Shit, are you okay?” she asked, and unsurprisingly, his hand came away red when he let her pull it off. It wasn't bleeding terribly, but the fact that it was on his bad shoulder made the already unpleasant sensation that much more painful. She replaced his hand, standing and wading awkwardly through the snow towards the far side of the clearing. He followed the path she was taking with his eyes, finding a motionless figure lying in the snow there. Even from this distance, he could see that one of Liryn's shots had caught them in the face, leaving it an unrecognizable mess, but from the rest of what he could see they seemed to be human. He heard her make a quiet sound of disgust as she gingerly rolled the body over, revealing a small satchel that had been hidden beneath them. She looked through it briefly, then wiggled the strap off their shoulder, carrying it back to him. She knelt down next to him again, pulling a basic medkit out of the bag.

“This will have to do until we get out of here,” she said, digging through the medkit. She made a pleased sound after a moment, pulling a very low dosage bacta patch from the mess she'd made between them during her search. It wouldn't do much besides keeping the wound from becoming infected and numbing the pain a little, but if it stopped the aching throb echoing through the rest of his arm, Thrawn would take it. Liryn grabbed the roll of gauze from the pile, then removed the bacta patch from its packaging, and pressed it through the hole in his jacket and shirt. He hissed at the initial sting, and grit his teeth as she wrapped the gauze around his arm to keep it pressed in place. She gave it one last tug, ensuring it was tight enough, and used a clip from the medkit to keep it from unwinding.

She didn't bother trying to put the kit back together, just shoved everything from the pile back into the satchel, then put her arm and head through it to let the strap hang diagonally across her chest. She had to tighten the strap a little to raise it enough to keep from slapping her knees as she walked, and now it instead was resting comfortably against her hip. Liryn held a hand out to him when she stood, and he took it, letting her help him stand. She had to use both hands and lean backwards to counter his weight, but between the two of them he managed to get up, taking the weight off his bad leg. It was protesting being pressed against the snow for even as short a time as it had been, and the cold was making it stiff and uncooperative.

“I really hope you're okay to walk, because I don't think I can manage to carry you like you did for me yesterday,” Liryn joked. Her blasé tone was obviously forced, and did a bad job of hiding the concern in her voice and on her face, as she took in what must have been a pained expression on his face.

“I'll be fine,” Thrawn replied. His initial instinct was to smooth his face back into its usual unaffected mask, but if he'd learned anything about Liryn at this point, it was that she'd gotten very good at reading him in what was an exceptionally short amount of time. The bacta was already starting to work, numbing the pain from the blaster wound itself, and beginning to soothe the ache through the rest of his arm. So rather than forcing his expression to change, he let it change naturally as the discomfort ebbed. This seemed to satisfy her, and her own shoulders relaxed in response.

“Okay, that's good,” she said, “So, which way are we going?” She looked around the clearing, and Thrawn held his comm up again, restarting the process of finding their bearings. Thankfully this time they didn't come under fire, and after maybe five minutes, he had as accurate an understanding of which direction they should be facing as he could in their circumstances.

“If we're still in the same valley,” he began, “Then this way should lead us back towards town.” He pointed to the edge of the clearing, a little more than ninety degrees to the right of the body. Liryn eyed the direction he'd pointed, considering it for herself.

“Alright,” she said. Then she was wading ahead of him through the snow, leaving a trail behind her that was easier to walk in so he could follow. Making the path got easier once they'd entered the trees; the snow was much shallower here, due to the interference of the thick canopy of branches above them, meaning that not even half a foot of snow covered the ground. Thrawn let her lead the way, instead keeping his own attention focused on scanning the forest around them for more threats. After twenty minutes of walking though, he was beginning to tire, and he could tell Liryn wasn't doing any better. Her movements had started to get sluggish as she became more and more fatigued, and her formerly brisk pace had slowed. She managed to keep going for maybe five more minutes before she slowed to a stop, leaning against a tree to take a break. The tree she'd chosen was enormous, big enough that the snow actually tapered off completely before it could reach the base of the trunk. It was more than wide enough for him to lean on it next to her, so he did. She was staring off into the forest, brow furrowed as she listened intently.

“Kiran should be close by now,” she said quietly, and Thrawn started listening more closely as well. He didn't hear anything at first. There was the distant call of some bird, which had started a little after they'd left the clearing. The occasional pattering sound as snow slipped off a branch, just powdery enough to fall in small chunks rather than one huge one. The creak of smaller, less sturdy branches straining under the weight of their burdens. Then Liryn's head swiveled, head cocking to one side to raise one ear. “I think he's off that way.” She pointed, the angle just a few degrees off from the direction they'd come. Thrawn raised an eyebrow, but focused on the direction she'd pointed in. At first he didn't hear anything. Then he became aware of a distantly faint, almost thumping sound, with long pauses in between. He realized he'd been hearing it for a while now, and it was slowly and steadily growing louder.

“How do you know that's him?” Thrawn asked, and she let out a small laugh, still catching her breath.

“He's gliding between trees,” she explained, “He does it when I take him out hiking in the summer too. He'll climb one, then jump and glide to the next one. Strills can use all that flabby skin between their legs to glide from high places.” She stuck her arms out, miming the motion. “The pauses are probably him stopping to get our scent again.” Thrawn hummed at that. There were a lot of stories about strills, and it was difficult to tell actual fact from the exaggerated fiction that got passed around.

“Interesting,” he said, and Liryn nodded in agreement. She glanced back in the direction of the sound listening to it get louder.

“He'll probably get here in about five minutes, by the sound of it. We shouldn't wait longer than that, it's not safe to rest in the cold for too long,” she said. She settled more firmly against the tree, then edged over, so their sides were pressed together. Even through the thick jacket and clothing they were both wearing, their combined body heat warmed the areas that were in contact.

“I am sorry that you got dragged into this,” she said, after a minute of silence. “You're supposed to be on Nuxena to relax and get better, but here I am, dragging you around in the snow and getting you shot.” Thrawn looked down at her, but she'd huddled down into her scarf, everything from the tip of her nose and down obscured, making it impossible to accurately read her expression.

“Well,” Thrawn replied, “If I hadn't come to Nuxena, there's a good chance you would have been killed. Getting grazed by a blaster bolt is a more than reasonable price to pay for you not dying, I think.” He leaned into their contact just enough for her to feel it, and realized he meant it. What he'd intended to be little more than a comforting platitude, came out much more sincere than he'd meant, and he found that he didn't even mind. Her face, still half-buried, was flushed, from the cold or from what he'd said he didn't know. “The bear might have been a bit much, though.” At that she laughed, the sound muffled by the scarf, and he felt her shoulder shake slightly where it was pressed against his arm. Kiran sounded much closer now, the distinct thumping of him landing in a tree now accompanied by the sound of large chunks of snow hitting the ground.

“The bear was a bit much,” Liryn agreed, looking back up as the sound stopped. After another moment, it was replaced by the sound of rapidly crunching snow, and within a few seconds, Kiran came into view, weaving between trees, sending snow flying up behind him from all six legs. He made it to them in what felt like the blink of an eye, sliding to a stop in front of them. Or at least, he attempted to slide to a stop in front of them. In actuality, he'd misjudged the solidity of the snow, and went sliding right past them at high speed. Thankfully, he hit a deeper patch of snow before he went too far, using it to slow himself enough to turn around and come trotting back to them. He slumped against both their legs, panting happily as he looked up at them both. Liryn reached down and rubbed the loose skin on the back of his neck, and even Thrawn gently rubbed behind one of his ears. The strill basked in the attention, leaning against them even more. After a minute or two of this, Liryn nudged Kiran with a knee, and he reluctantly pulled away.

“We should get going,” she said, but didn't actually move. If anything, she slid to further to the side, and leaned more against him. They both watched Kiran wander around, investigating the immediate area. His fur had even more snow clumped in it than it had before, after his run around the house, and he almost blended in against the snow and trees. The abrupt sound of a comm ringing startled all of them, and Liryn scrambled to pull out her comm. She looked at the screen, then pressed a button, and rather than putting it to her ear held it slightly away from herself.

“Kothe?” she asked, and after a split-second delay, the Gand's familiar voice came through the comm, which Liryn had switched to speaker mode.

“Hey Liryn,” they said, “So, I finished that thing you asked me to do, but you're not at your house.”

“Yeah,” she replied, sounding tired. “It's been – a bit of a day.”

“I figured, with what I found out. And since you're off in the middle of nowhere.” Liryn straighten, shock on her face when she looked over at Thrawn.

“What?” she finally managed to ask.

“Well since you literally got shot yesterday, when you weren't home I tracked your comm,” Kothe told her. Liryn's shoulders tensed, and she made a very quiet, strangled noise. Thrawn had tensed himself, next to her. If Kothe could track her comm, could anyone at the mine? He hadn't even considered that might be a something to worry about, too used to the Empire's more secure standard issue comms. Kothe cut both of their thoughts off.

“Don't worry, I'm like, ninety-eight percent sure that I'm the only person on Nuxena who'd be able to manage it. It's not exactly easy to do.” Liryn relaxed marginally, but Thrawn was still internally berating himself for forgetting something so simple. “Anyway, I figured you probably shouldn't be wandering around in Nuxena's wilderness. The update I need to give you also isn't something that should be done over the comm, so I came to get you.” They both blinked at that, and Liryn started looking around, as if Kothe would suddenly appear from nowhere.

“What?” she asked, “Where are you?”

“Just keep heading the way you were going,” they said, “You should get to the clearing I'm waiting in pretty soon. I'd say fifteen minutes max.” The line went dead as Kothe hung up on their end, and Liryn and Thrawn both stared at the silent comm in her hand.

“Can we trust them?” Thrawn asked her, and she stopped, her face dour as she seriously considered the possibility that she might not be able to.

“Yes,” she answered, looking up at him with complete confidence. “I trust Kothe.” He stared back, then let the tension run out of his shoulders as he nodded.

“Then let's go,” he told her, placing a hand briefly on her upper back in reassurance. The knowledge that they had an actual destination, closer than he'd originally hoped, gave Thrawn a new burst of energy. They walked in the same direction they had been, this time side by side, with Kiran bounding ahead of them and doing more than enough to clear the deeper snow from their path. With Kiran clearing the way, they were both free to keep an eye on the woods around them, though the strill would likely hear or smell something long before they saw it. They stayed close enough together that their arms brushed as they walked, though the path Kiran created was wide enough that they didn't need to. Kothe's prediction ended up being accurate, and after just ten minutes, they could see a break in the trees ahead, opening into a clearing.

As they got closer, Thrawn saw the odd looking speeder he'd seen in Kothe's workshop, now fully assembled into a functioning machine. Kiran stopped at the edge of the clearing, head tilting as he examined the unfamiliar object. Then he was bounding forward, moving only marginally more slowly than before in the much deeper snow. The speeder was half-hidden by snow, and looked to have a good three feet all around it cleared. When Kiran finally broke into the cleared circle, the driver's door opened, and Kothe stepped out. They brushed the snow off of Kiran's face and the fur around his neck, and the strill obligingly sat in front of them to allow it, tail sweeping through the loose snow around him. Thrawn and Liryn walked through the path Kiran had created, and by the time they got there, Kothe had managed to free most of his upper body from the snow.

“I guess that'll have to do,” Kothe sighed, giving Kiran's snow covered lower half what could be a disappointed look. Then they looked up, looking Liryn over first, then Thrawn. Their gaze caught on the gauze wrapped tightly around Thrawn's upper arm and shoulder, and they looked between them both.

“What happened to you two?” they asked, then shook their head immediately, “Actually, nevermind, I have a pretty good idea. Well, let's go, no sense coming all the way out here just to let the two of you freeze.” They gave Kiran one last look, then opened the back passenger door, herding the strill into the speeder. “Kinky's currently claimed the front seat, so you guys are gonna have to take the back.”

“I helped build it, so I get shotgun!” The droid's voice came drifting out of the open door, and if Kothe was capable, Thrawn was sure they'd be rolling their eyes. As it stood, they did a very good job conveying that impression without truly mobile eyes.

“Yep, you've said. That's why they're riding in the back,” they told Kinky, walking around the speeder to get to the driver's seat.

“So this is normal?” Thrawn quietly asked, and Liryn snickered under her breath.

“Pretty much,” she replied at the same volume, then climbed in after Kiran, settling into the middle of the back seat. Thrawn climbed in after her, grimacing as his leg stung. He managed to jostle his arm in the process too, but thanks to the bacta, at least that pain faded quickly enough in the speeder's warm interior. He let himself relax into the seat, Liryn doing the same next to him, as the exhaustion tried to convince him now was a good time for a nap. Kothe did something on the control panel, and then they were lifting into the air, just high enough to clear the treetops.

“I'm taking us back to my workshop, because I get the feeling your house isn't an option?” they asked, quickly glancing over their shoulder to look at Liryn. She nodded, unzipping and pulling open her jacket to let herself warm up more quickly.

“Yeah, that probably wouldn't be the best idea,” she agreed, tugging her gloves off too. Kinky's dome swivled back to look them over.

“Need me to turn the heat up?” the droid asked, and from the tone of her voice, you could tell that she was leading up to something. “Your friend's looking a little blue.”

“Oh my GOD, Kinky!” Kothe said, sounding like a scandalized parent.

“Oh come on, you're just mad because I said it first!” Kinky was making a modulated whooping noise, that came out sounding very close to laughter.

“I'm like ninety percent sure that that's super racist!” Kothe insisted, “I didn't raise you like this!” The droid was unrepentant, still doing her whooping pseudo-laughing, though the volume had been lowered.

“So anyway,” Liryn cut in, “You said you looked into Druan Reyal? What did you find?” Thrawn unzipped his own jacket, immediately feeling himself start to warm. Kothe tilted their head, making some kind of clicking noise that the translator didn't even make an attempt to process.

“Well, I can tell you already, you're probably not going to like it,” they said, keeping their gaze locked ahead as they flew. “So good news or bad news first?”

“I figured as much,” Liryn said, “Go ahead, tell me the bad news.” She sounded resigned at this point.

“Alright, bad news it is. As you seem to have already found out, there is something up with the mining company, and its whole operation,” they explained, “And the thing that's up is that there's a rebel base here, and they're funneling money and resources from it on the down-low.” The exhaustion that had been tugging at Thrawn's consciousness vanished, and Liryn shot up straight beside him.

“What!” she squawked, her voice strangled. Thrawn's attention was completely focused on Kothe now, and they made that same clicking noise again.

“Yep, that was pretty much the reaction I was expecting,” they said, pulling the controls gently to correct their course. “But it isn't the whole mine. Just Zorabos, his two managers, Juna and the section team he leads, which apparently Reyal was a part of. Everybody else that works there isn't involved, as far as their records show. And believe me, their 'off the book' records are _very_ thorough, which makes their awful security even more ridiculous.” Liryn let out a shaky breath, collapsing back against the seat again.

“So that's the good news?” she asked, “That it's not everyone at the mine?”

“Nope!” Kothe chirped. “The _good news_ is that no one who lives in town is involved. The other good news is that I've got a high powered comm array that we can call for help on, and someone to call.”

“Oh,” Liryn said, “That's better news than I was expecting, honestly.”

“Right? We've pretty much got this situation on lock, at this point.” Kothe sounded very confident in this fact. They passed over the edge of town, and within a few minutes, Kothe was landing the speeder behind their shop. A large overhead door that connected to it opened, and they pulled the speeder in to park it. They flipped a few switches, and the speeder gently lowered itself to the ground, and a minute after that the overhead door dropped closed. Kothe and Kinky both hopped out of the front seats, with Thrawn and Liryn following suit out of one of the back doors.

“The comm's right through here,” Kothe told them, motioning to a door at the back of the shop. They led the way, Kinky and the both of them close behind, when the loud buzz of a droid's vocalizer sounded behind him. Thrawn stopped, looking over his shoulder, and his eyebrows rose when he saw Forks rushing over to him. Kothe and Liryn looked back at the noise as well.

“Oh yeah,” Kothe told him, “I found it at Liryn's house. He seemed pretty insistent about coming along, so I brought him here when I came back to track Liryn's comm.” With that explained, they turned back to the door they'd approached, leaving it open behind them when they went through. Thrawn stayed put, listening to the droid chatter at him, while Liryn and Kothe went into the room. When he was sure he wouldn't be overheard, he gave Forks a serious look.

“Did you contact the Empire, like I told you?” he asked it. The droid rocked back and forth noncommittally for a moment, but let out a low affirmative whistle. Thrawn nodded in satisfaction, turning to catch back up. When he entered the room, Kothe was seated at a table, atop which sat a long distance comms array. It was visually cobbled together, but it was clear that whoever had made it knew what they were doing. Kothe was adjusting dials on it as he walked over, then they flipped the switch to activate it, and the sound of a comm attempting to connect came out of a speaker connected to the array. Thrawn took a seat next to Liryn, who was sitting on a nearby couch watching Kothe work. After a few minutes of connecting, the line crackled briefly as it was established, before going silent when it was picked up.

“Agent Livis,” a man answered, tone serious and to the point. His voice had a familiar quality to it, a little like Kothe's translator, but much smoother and less noticeable.

“Hey Wex, what's up?” Kothe asked, voice chipper and more than a little delighted. There was silence one the line for a moment.

“Who is this?” the man, evidently Wex, asked, sounding suspicious.

“Honestly, I'm little hurt you don't recognize my voice. It's Kothe.” They only sounded put out for as long as it took them to finish saying so, then it was back to being friendly again.

“Kothe? Who –,” Wex began to ask, then cut himself off, his voice going apprehensive, “Ah, kriff, what do _you_ want?” He didn't give them a chance to say anything before he was talking again, sounding angry now. “Wait a minute, if you're on this fragging planet, I swear to –“

“Woah, woah, hold on. There's literally no way I'm on the same planet as you, for starters. Second, I am a _delight,_ and if things weren't constantly going to hell in a handbasket whenever we run into each other, you'd appreciate that more. But that's not why I called you.” Wex was silent at that.

“Alright, I'll bite. What is it?” he finally asked, sighing a little in resignation.

“Well it just so happens that I have some information on a group of rebels, that the Empire isn't even aware of. And not the fun kind, either.” Wex was quiet again for a moment.

“How do I know you're not lying?” he said, voice cautiously optimistic.

“I mean, if you _don't_ want me to tell you about a bunch of rebels who are disrupting the Empire’s intake of resources, that's fine,” Kothe said, placing an elbow on the table and propping their head up with that hand. “But I'd like to point out to you that not once have I ever lied to you. Or even just not told you the whole truth.” They said this with an air of finality, waiting patiently as Wex made a noise of frustration over the line.

“Fine! Fine, where are these rebels?” he asked, still sounding aggravated with the entire situation. While Kothe started telling him all the pertinent details, like Nuxena's coordinates, and information they'd found about the rebels, Thrawn glanced down at Liryn, brows raised. She looked back up at him and shrugged her shoulders, confusion clear on her own face. Kothe finished up their explanation quickly enough, sending a databurst through with more detailed information, and confirmed it had been received before finally closing the transmission.

“Well, if I'm remembering right, the nearest occupied world is only an hour or two away by hyperdrive. All we need to do now is hang tight, and wait for them to get here,” Kothe said, turning around to face them. It would probably take even less time than that, Thrawn thought, since Forks would have sent a message close to an hour earlier. Thrawn had given the droid his security codes and encryption, so the message would have been sent up the line after it was received, and reached someone who knew he was still alive. There was the possibility that Thrawn being here at all had been a way for the Emperor to get rid of him, while still being able to use him as an ace up his sleeve later. Either way, Kothe had informed what seemed to be an ISB agent of rebel activity, so there would be an actual armed force arriving to deal with it sooner rather than later.

“So what was all that?” Liryn asked, “I didn't know that you knew an Imperial agent.”

“Oh, Wex?” they replied, “Yeah, I met him a few months right after I left Gand.” Kothe didn't elaborate, further on the subject. Instead, they grabbed a spare datapad, connecting it briefly to their primary one, and then held the new one out to the both of them. “Here's everything I got from the mine's systems. Figured you should probably have a copy.” Liryn took it, making a short-lived attempt to scan through it, before huffing and handing it off to Thrawn instead.

“Here, you'll probably be able to make better sense of this than I will right now,” she said, and once he'd taken the datapad, rubbed one hand over her face tiredly. Her other hand was resting on Kiran's front-most shoulder, the strill having somehow managed to squeeze himself into a single person space on the couch, with his head resting in Liryn's lap. Thrawn skimmed most of it, stopping to properly read when he got to something important. Kothe's brief description had been accurate, based on the conclusions he himself was drawing from the documents on the pad. The mine produced a not-uncommon, but high demand ore. The rebels had been changing the documents to allow large amounts of the ore to be shipped off the record to some private refinery, presumably so that the refined metal could be used to manufacture things for the rebellion, or to be sold and provide much needed financing.

“How's your arm doing?” Liryn's question pulled him out of his own head, and he looked up from the datapad to find her giving him a concerned frown.

“It's fine,” he told her, swiping to the next page of the datapad. Truthfully, he could barely feel the graze thanks to the bacta, though the current patch didn't contain enough to actually start the healing process. If he didn't move or jostle his arm, it was like nothing was wrong, the only sign of his injury a dull ache that he'd already grown used to. Kothe, who'd gotten up to grab something off another table in the room, tapped his left elbow as they passed him to return to their seat. Thrawn flinched involuntarily, hissing as even that small movement made his shoulder throb.

“Yeah, totally fine,” Kothe said with a dry sarcasm. “You need some bacta or something on that.” Liryn looked more concerned now, frowning at him more severely than before.

“The rebels are definitely watching the town by now,” Thrawn said, giving Kothe a dirty look, “I can't go to the clinic myself for obvious reasons, and it would be too suspicious for Dr. Madowki or her assistant to come here with supplies to treat a wound.” He took a deep breath as he tried to ignore the insistent throb in his shoulder. Kothe shook their head, propping their hands on their hips.

“Actually, it wouldn't be suspicious if _I_ go and bring back supplies,” they told him, “I've been over there nearly every afternoon for the past week, fixing their computer system. I can bring everything back in my backpack, and there won't be anything out of place as far as anyone can tell.” They used a thumb to indicate their backpack, which Thrawn only now realized that they'd been wearing every time he'd seen them.

“If you think you can do it without drawing any attention, go ahead,” Liryn cut in before Thrawn could say anything. She ignored the look he gave her, focusing on Kothe instead. “I take it you don't have anything here we could use, huh?” Kothe shook her head, already walking to the door.

“Nope. Never really bothered, since the clinic's right across the street,” they said, pausing halfway through the door to look back at them. “I'll lock the shop up when I leave, and comm Kinky before I try to come back in. So if you hear someone trying to get in, and I haven't commed – well, assume the worst I guess.” With that and a wave, they were gone. Thrawn heard the sound of the door to the reception swing shut, and the heavy grind of a lock. The sound echoed a little through the shop, and then it was silent.

“Well, I'm already bored,” Kinky announced abruptly, “I'll be out here if you need me. And please, do not need me.” She rolled out the still open door with a rev of her motor, disappearing out of view into the shop proper. His arm was still aching in a very distracting way, making it hard to really focus, so Thrawn gave up on going over the datapad for now. Instead, he looked around the room Kothe had led them into. It looked to be half living space, and half additional workshop. There was the couch he and Liryn were sitting on, and a workbench, flanked on either side by metal drawers. From what he could see on the workbench, Kothe did their work on smaller or more delicate items in here, based on what could have been a half-built comm, or a partially built version of some other similarly sized device. There was a small kitchenette against the wall farthest wall from the door, and in one corner was a narrow staircase, which he assumed led up to a sleeping space. Despite half of it being composed of stacked mechanical bits, it was surprisingly cozy and inviting. On Liryn's other side, Kiran stretched, and the movement physically pushed her down the couch.

“Ugh, Kiran,” she scolded halfheartedly, pushing one of the strill's feet away from her face. Unsurprisingly, it turned out that a full-grown strill wasn't meant to take up the same amount of space as someone Liryn's size, and Kiran had finally begun to doze deeply enough that he was unwinding from the tightly curled ball he'd been in to make himself fit. She quickly gave up on trying to push the strill back and reclaim her lost space, and slumped down into the couch with a sigh. Thrawn had taken the opportunity to lean back, resting his head on the backrest and closing his eyes with a long breath. With a strill taking up almost two of the couch's three spaces, that left Liryn leaning against him, and Thrawn was thankful that she was on his uninjured side.

“Sorry if I was being too pushy,” she said quietly, seeming reluctant to break the silence, “It just seemed a bit silly to put off treating your shoulder, when we could just have Kothe go right across the street.” She slid further, the majority of her weight against him now, and Thrawn was also thankful, not for the first time, that she weighed so little. “Plus, even if someone's watching the town, they probably think we're still out in the forest. It's too dense for even speeder bikes to be useful, the only way to get around is to go over the trees and land in clearings, like Kothe did.”

“If there's more rebels than those at the mine, they could organize a search to find our tracks,” Thrawn answered, not bothering to open his eyes. “The information Kothe gave us indicates that there could very well be a separate group of rebels, in an established base somewhere nearby, ready to assist the main group at the mine.” Liryn hummed at that.

“Not much we can do about it now,” she said, sounding tired. He cracked an eye open, looking down at her. He couldn't see much from this angle, only that she'd rested her head against his arm, like she had in the woods. Nonetheless, he was fairly certain she'd closed her eyes, and was well on the way to a nap. Kiran was still sprawled next to and over her, and it didn't look like either of them were moving anytime soon. He closed his eye again after pushing the datapad off his lap and to the side; now was as a good a time as any to get some rest, with Kothe, both the astromechs, and even Kiran he supposed, keeping an eye out. Thrawn gently wiggled his right arm free from where it had become pinned, instead draping it in a much more comfortable position over Liryn's shoulders. She just slid further into the few inches of space his arm had been occupying previously, twisting a little to situate herself again before stilling. He could hear Forks out in the shop, beeping something in binary at Kinky that he couldn't quite make out from this distance.


	12. Book ‘Em, Danno

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the last chapter! Thank you so much to everybody that read this thing! Everyone who commented or left kudos, thank you so much for the encouragement! 
> 
> I’ve already started what is technically a sequel to this fic, but it probably won’t be anywhere near as long as this lol   
> I’m enjoying playing around in this universe a lot, so there’s a good chance I’ll write more after that too.
> 
> ANYWAY, enjoy the final chapter!

He must have drifted off, because when Thrawn opened his eyes again, Kothe was back, sitting at their workbench and fiddling with something. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but Liryn was still next to him. Her breathing was deep and sleep-even, and at some point she had wrapped an arm loosely around his middle, where it still laid. Kiran had left, and must have been somewhere else in the shop, because he wasn't here that Thrawn could see. Kothe soldered something with a quiet crackle, then looked up.

“Oh, you're awake,” they said softly, mindful of the still-sleeping woman next to him.

“How long was I asleep for?” Thrawn asked at the same volume, fighting the urge to yawn. Liryn didn't stir more than to tighten her grip around him.

“I was gone for maybe half an hour, and I've been back for about that long too, so?” They shrugged, and reached beside them to where their backpack sat. As Kothe dug around in it, Thrawn tested to see if he could free himself from Liryn's unconscious hold. It was quickly apparent that nothing short of waking her up would do it, and he was reluctant to. She would have been expending much more energy than him just keeping warm in the snow, even taking into account the toll that his injuries took on him. Not to mention she was still recovering herself from yesterday, even if the damage itself had healed enough for her to get around reasonably well. Kothe walked over, holding a full strength bacta patch that matched his current one's size, and a fresh roll of gauze to hold it on.

“If you're not too warm, I can just do it over your jacket again,” Kothe said, shooting a look at where Liryn still clung to him, like some kind of human limpet. Thrawn only nodded his agreement, staying silent as he braced himself for the pain of removing the current bandage and applying the new one. Rather than unwinding the gauze on his arm, Kothe just took a pair of scissors and cut it. It was much quicker than the unwinding would have been, and jostled his arm less. Peeling the old bacta patch off was worse, since it had had enough time to seal itself to his skin like it was supposed to. He clenched his jaw as it tugged at the skin around the wound, and once they had a solid grip on one edge, Kothe yanked the entire thing off in one go like a bandaid. It was hard to say if it was more or less of a relief to have it off, since once it was the stinging sensation started to return. The stinging immediately went away when they pressed the new patch on, the higher strength bacta near instantaneously numbing and healing. It didn't take more than a minute to wrap the new gauze around and secure it with a clip.

Liryn had slept through the whole procedure, blissfully unaware, and Thrawn honestly considered going back to sleep himself. The appealing prospect was gone soon, when Forks rolled into the room, beeping urgently at him. The noise was enough to pull Liryn far enough into consciousness to mumble an incoherent question. Forks ignored her, almost running into the side of the couch in an attempt to reach Thrawn, barely stopping itself in time. Thrawn narrowed his eyes at it, as he tried to interpret the binary the droid was spitting out at breakneck speed, when Kothe chimed in helpfully from where they'd sat back down at their workbench.

“It says you've got a message?” they told him, sounding confused. Thrawn blinked at that, much more awake now, though Liryn was still clinging to sleep next to him. He held the hand of his newly bandaged arm up, without any trouble now that the bacta had numbed his shoulder, and Forks' beeping fell silent. There was a very short list of people that had the means to send a message to the droid, and half of them were already in this room. Given the limits of the type of communications Forks could send and receive, it would have to be a recorded message as well, and just as heavily encrypted as the one he'd had the droid send. Kothe was still looking at him, head tilted in a clear question. He looked down at Liryn, considering the best way to gently remove her so he could get up.

“Is it like, top secret Grand Admiral stuff?” Kothe asked him, head propped up on their hand as they leaned against the bench. Thrawn very carefully kept his head from snapping up to look at them, instead restraining himself to glance up as casually as he could manage. Evidently, Liryn had been awake enough to be listening, and she blinked, pushing herself fully upright, her shoulders tense.

“What?” she asked, sleep still coloring her voice.

“What?” Kothe parroted back, “I totally figured that out, like, the day after I fixed your droid.” They pointed at Forks, and the droid almost jumped, rolling backwards with a small burst of static, as if it was trying to escape the attention. “But that's just because I recognized that you were Chiss, and y'all are even less common than me. Plus, Kinky's been going around saying you're some subspecies of Pantoran, so I'm pretty sure no one else has made the connection.” Kinky said something in binary that sounded excessively smug, and Kothe glared at her.

“Can you just not, for five minutes?” they asked the droid, annoyance practically dripping from their voice. Kinky shut up at that, but Thrawn was once again impressed by how much emotion she could convey, even now that she was silent. Kothe huffed at her, and looked back at him. “I can leave, if you need me to?” Thrawn blinked, taking all this information in. He hadn't noticed Kothe behaving any differently than they had the first time he'd met them, and couldn't detect any difference even now. He also hadn't expected anyone to recognize him, to any degree; Kothe had been more than correct, when they'd said that Chiss were rare even in wild space, much less the outer rim, which Nuxena straddled the line between.

“That won't be necessary,” Thrawn finally told them. He pushed himself to his feet, now that he was free of Liryn's grasp, taking a quick second to get his balance.

“You sure?” Kothe asked, “Well, either way just close the door. The workshop's pretty soundproof.” Thrawn nodded and led Forks out of the room, waiting for it to roll through the door, closing it behind the droid. Before it closed completely, he heard Liryn start questioning Kothe, voice more than a little incredulous. Once the door was closed, the sound was little more than a soft, muffled noise. The workshop really was well soundproofed. He scanned the room, and after a moment of thought, walked to one of the workbenches out here, taking a seat atop the stool there and swiveling to face Forks. The droid had followed dutifully behind him, and stopped about a foot away, waiting patiently as he sat down.

“Have you already decrypted the message?” he asked it, and Forks chirped an affirmative. “Play the message, then.” The droid whirred, optics dimming fractionally as it input the necessary codes to authorize playback. Then it's holo projector turned on, and a scaled down, full-body image of the Emperor flickered into view, hovering in the air between Thrawn and the droid.

“Grand Admiral,” the recording began, the audio playback fuzzing very slightly in a few places, “You have done excellent work in your short time on Nuxena.” Thrawn narrowed his eyes at that, unsure as to what game Palpatine was playing. The recording, of course, didn't react to this, and continued. “You have recovered more quickly than I anticipated. I will be sending the _Chimaera_ to you, and you will resume command of it. It should be arriving shortly after you receive this message. We shall speak more directly, once you have access to its superior communications capabilities.” The recording ended there, the image freezing in place for a few seconds before disappearing entirely. He blinked at the spot the hologram had been, feeling an odd mixture of emotions. On the one hand, he would be returning to the familiar duties he had been accustomed to, no longer stuck puttering around the cabin with practically nothing to occupy himself with. On the other hand, he'd come to enjoy some part of the routine he'd developed, even if most of it had been a product of his recovery. Then there was Liryn, who he'd only recently realized was someone he would very much like to know better.

He stood, pushing the thought away with a shake of his head. Regardless of what he wanted, there was a rebel cell that needed to be dealt with before anything. If nothing else, he could do that for her, and try to mitigate the degree to which the Empire would impose itself on the moon. He walked back to the room at the back of the workshop, Forks following him without a sound. The conversation Kothe and Liryn had been having stopped when he opened the door, both of them looking over at him as he walked in.

“So what's up?” Kothe said, breaking the silence. Thrawn retrieved the datapad he'd set down earlier from where it laid on the couch before he answered.

“An Imperial force shall be arriving soon, likely before the hour is up,” he answered, going through the datapad much more closely now. He wanted to have at least a basic understanding of the rebel's activities in the last few months before he formulated a plan to capture them. He'd also need the details of how well-prepared the _Chimaera_ had been made before its departure, and whether or not the number of its usual complement of TIEs and troopers had been pared down or added to. Almost as if on cue, Kothe's datapad pinged an alert, immediately followed by Liryn's comm beeping to signal an incoming call.

“Well, would you look at that. Looks like your backup's here,” Kothe said, tapping something on their datapad. Liryn had jumped when her comm started to beep, and she stared at it for a moment, before finally answering it and putting it to her ear.

“Hello?” she answered, and then after a brief silence, “This is her.” She was quiet as she listened to whoever was on the other end of the line, face serious. “Ah, we're in the mechanic's shop in town. There's a clearing at the southern end of town where you can land, we're right next to it.” She hung up a few moments after that, looking back from where she'd had her gaze focused on a spot on the wall while she talked.

“That was them,” she explained. “Apparently they're supposed to pick us up before anything else. Does the name Pellaeon sound familiar, or the ship the _Chimaera_?” She directed this question to Thrawn, who nodded.

“Yes,” he said, “That's who I was told was coming. How long?” Liryn glanced down at her comm, shrugging.

“They didn't say,” she answered, “They just said 'shortly'.” Thrawn hummed quietly at that, glancing over the last few pages on the datapad he was holding. He remembered the clearing Liryn had mentioned, an open space big enough for at least two standard shuttles taking over where the road through town ended.

“It would be best to stay off the main street. Is there an exit that faces the clearing directly? ” he asked Kothe.

“Nope,” they said, “But we can use the back door. You can see the clearing from there, and it's got pretty good overhead cover.” Thrawn nodded at that, and sat back down to wait. Kiran had reappeared while Liryn had been on the comm, trotting down the stairs. Evidently Kothe didn't care about the strill wandering around up there. Now, he was trying to climb back up onto the spot he'd been in previously on the couch, but Liryn was stopping him with a hand on his chest.

“You're not going to get to lay on me again, stop it,” she told Kiran with a frown. The strill pulled the same woe-is-me face Thrawn had seen him use a few times now. Instead of climbing up, he sat right next to Liryn's legs, resting his chin on her knee and looking pitiful. Liryn only patted him on the head, and the strill huffed a put upon sigh, ears back but relaxed. Even without Kiran taking up nearly half the couch's space, Liryn was still in the middle of the couch, and leaned on Thrawn again once he'd settled. Thrawn opened the notation function on the datapad, working back through the datapad and marking what he'd determined to be the most relevant information. Meanwhile, Liryn was tapping through something on her comm, thumbs moving rapidly over the small screen. Thrawn paused, maybe halfway through his notating, to watch her. She noticed his attention, and tapped one final thing.

“I'm telling the people in town to cooperate,” she explained, answering his unspoken question, “No one here is used to dealing with the Empire so directly, and I imagine they're going to want to do a full search of all the buildings in town. I'm just trying to make things go as smoothly as possible.” She still seemed unhappy with the idea of Nuxena being essentially occupied by a star destroyer's worth of stormtroopers, but at the same time resigned to the current inevitability of it. Thrawn had the urge to offer some kind of comfort, but until he spoke with the Emperor again, and dealt with the rebels, there wasn't any kind of guarantee he could give her. In lieu of any verbal platitudes he might have offered, he leaned back into her a little, not even enough to move her. It worked well enough, because she sighed gently, tucking her comm back into her pocket and resting against him more fully again. Thrawn went back to what he'd been doing, making quick work of the remaining pages. Not ten minutes later, the unmistakable sound of a lambda-class transport shuttle passed overhead. He stood, Liryn right behind him, and Kothe hopped down off her stool.

“Back door's over here,” they said, leading them back out into the workshop. To the right of the overhead door they'd come through in the speeder was a heavy personnel door, which Kothe opened with a tap of the Keypad next to it. It opened into the space behind the building, and Liryn shivered at the gust of cold air that came through.

“Probably better if I stay here,” Kothe said, “I'd also appreciate if I didn't have to deal with a bunch of stormtroopers mucking around my place.” They looked directly at Thrawn as they said this, and he regarded her cooly for a moment.

“I will consider your building searched,” he conceded, and they nodded their thanks. Thrawn led the way out, scanned the open area, and the treeline directly ahead. To his right was open space, which would lead around the building or to the clearing where the shuttle had presumably set down. Once he was satisfied with the lack of a presence, he started that way. Liryn walked next to him on his right, between him and the building. She had a loose hold on Kiran's collar, not that the strill seemed to mind, since he was tall enough next to her that she could easily reach it. As they rounded the corner of the building, the shuttle came into view. The ramp had already dropped, and a squad of troopers had spilled out, setting up a perimeter around the area.

An officer descended the ramp, a plain looking human man, flanked on either side by more troopers. He spotted them as he took up position at the foot of the ramp, and he held up a hand to the stormtroopers at the perimeter, allowing them to approach. He squinted at them as they did, until they were close enough for faces to be clear, at which point his eyes widened in shock. He blinked owlishly for a minute as they walked closer, and only shook himself out of it once they'd reached the perimeter the troopers had created. Then he snapped into a crisp salute and parade rest.

“Grand Admiral, sir,” he said, voice as composed as he could manage, which wasn't very. “I wasn't aware –.” He cut himself off, schooling his features admirably, all things considered. There was a short ripple of confusion through the troopers around them, before they settled once more. Thrawn glanced at his rank bar while the man eyed Kiran apprehensively.

“At ease, Lieutenant,” Thrawn told him, easily falling into his usual command tone. The lieutenant relaxed marginally, stepping aside, as did the troopers flanking him.

“Right this way, sir,” he said, waiting for Thrawn and Liryn to pass before following them up the ramp. He couldn't hide the grimace of disgust as Kiran passed, the strill's smelling having been hidden by the wind's direction and the cold until then. For his part, the strill seemed delighted by all the new sights, sounds, and smells that the shuttle offered, panting happily in a way that showed off his impressive rows of teeth. The two troopers in the shuttle with them shifted nervously, one of them visibly tightening their grip on their blaster. When they'd reached the interior of the shuttle, Thrawn stopped, turning to face the lieutenant as he came up behind them.

“You may begin our departure, Lieutenant,” Thrawn ordered, hands linked loosely behind his back as he settled back into the familiar stance, and the lieutenant looked back at him, confused.

“I have orders to retrieve Governor Morastus as well, sir,” he replied, and Liryn raised her free hand in a small wave, drawing his attention.

“That's me,” she said, and he blinked, eyebrows raising.

“Ah, Of course. My apologies, Governor. Then we shall depart at once.” He gave them each a respectful nod, then turned, ordering the rest of the stormtroopers back. After they'd all filed in, he notified the pilot via his commlink that they were ready to leave. While he did this, Thrawn  led Liryn to the passenger area, taking the second seat from the end of the row. Liryn sat beside him in the seat he'd skipped, spreading her feet enough for Kiran to sit between them to keep him out of the way. Now that they'd been given the go ahead, the shuttle lifted off the ground, and verr soon they were experiencing the turbulence that always came with entering or exiting an atmosphere. Liryn kept her hold on Kiran's collar for the entire trip, and hadn't released it since they'd left Kothe. It was for the best, since the strill kept shifting around, gently testing her grip in his eagerness to explore the shuttle. The lieutenant and troopers were nervous enough now with the strill restrained, and despite the fact that Kiran wouldn't attack unprovoked, it was better not to tempt fate.

The entire trip didn't take more than twenty minutes, before the shuttle landed again, shuddering gently as it touched down. The lieutenant jumped up before either of them could, going ahead to hit the ramp's controls, standing at attention next to the exit as he waited for them. The ambient temperature of the shuttle's interior was much warmer than Nuxena's wintry climate, and Thrawn was able to stand with a minimum of protest from his leg. The bacta was still going strong on his arm, and he still didn't feel any pain from it to his relief. Liryn had a bit more trouble, having to navigate around Kiran's considerable bulk, but she was up soon after him; with her and the strill in tow, he exited the shuttle, the lieutenant falling into step behind him, and the stormtroopers behind him.

The familiar primary hangar bay of the _Chimaera_ greeted him as he walked down the ramp, and a constant low-level tension he hadn't realized he'd had disappeared now that he was back. He'd been based out of the star destroyer long enough for it to be considered the closest thing he had to a home currently, and he hadn't quite noticed how much he'd missed it. At the foot of the ramp, far enough back to allow the troopers behind Thrawn to move past him once he stopped, was Captain Pellaeon. He was just as surprised as the lieutenant had been once he recognized Thrawn, though his greater breadth of experience allowed him to hide it well enough.

“Captain,” Thrawn greeted mildly, coming to a stop at the bottom of the ramp. Pellaeon recovered much more quickly than the lieutenant had, giving his head a minute shake as Liryn came to a stop on one side them, the lieutenant on the other.

“Grand Admiral, it's good to have you back on board the _Chimaera_ ,” Pellaeon replied, voice steady and unaffected, though his face still held a trace of his shock at seeing Thrawn alive and well. He shifted his attention to Liryn, glancing at Kiran beside her, before his eyes landed on her face. Thrawn could see him suppressing his reaction to the strill's smell, though he only noticed it because he knew the man so well. “Governor Morastus, I presume?” She nodded, and he offered his hand to her.

“I'm Captain Pellaeon. Welcome aboard the ISD _Chimaera_ ,” he said, shaking her hand politely. “This way, please.” He stepped back, waiting for her to fall in next to him before leading her out of the hangar, Thrawn filling in the space to her left in a mirror of Pellaeon's position. The lieutenant brought up the rear, seeming a bit at loss in the circumstances. Thrawn caught the look Pellaeon shot him over Liryn's head, the man's expression clearly demanding answers at some later date. Obviously, the Emperor had not seen fit to inform him of Thrawn's survival, or of the fact that he was the Imperial that he was picking up alongside Nuxena's governor. Pellaeon took them down the hall that led to the visiting officers quarters, stopping in front of the door to one of the larger rooms.

“Here you are, Governor. We've prepared you a room and a change of clothes. You will be remaining with us until your rebel problem is dealt with,” Pellaeon told her, handing her a datacylinder after using it to open the door.

“Oh, okay. Thank you,” she said, at a bit of a loss as she took it. Pellaeon only nodded.

“Please, make yourself comfortable. If you require anything, you are free to enlist Lieutenant Jarrde to aid you,” he told her, gesturing to the man that had followed them. At the mention of his name, Jarrde stood a little straighter. “He will be just outside, here in the hallway.” Liryn nodded again, suddenly seeming tired and resigned.

“Right,” she said, then herded Kiran into the room. He needed barely any coaxing, bounding in as soon as he'd been released, and was already sniffing everything within his reach. She walked in after him, the door closing behind her. Jarrde took up position beside the door, while Thrawn and Pellaeon started back down the way they'd come. Once they were far enough to not be overheard by the lieutenant, Pellaeon shot him another look, face askance.

“Later, Captain,” Thrawn replied to the unspoken request, “For now, we have rebels to deal with.” A frown pulled at Pellaeon's features before they smoothed back into his usual professionalism and he nodded.

“Your quarters have remained as they were,” Pellaeon informed him, “If you would prefer to change first, sir.” Thrawn realized that he was indeed still wearing the heavy clothes and boots that had become his usual garb on Nuxena, as well as the hat and scarf Liryn had given him.

“Yes,” he answered, “I think so. But first –.” Thrawn pulled the datapad from his jacket, handing it to the other man. “This a copy of the mine's files for the last six months, as well as a list of the rebels who we know are there. I presume you have already sent a team to secure the mine?” Pellaeon took the datapad, scrolling through it quickly and glancing at the notes Thrawn had made.

“Yes, we sent three squads. They've reported that they've secured the mine and it's immediate area, as well as all the personnel they could find. Would you like me to have the town searched as well?” he asked, and Thrawn hummed.

“No,” Thrawn answered, stopping at an intersection. “For now, set up a perimeter around the town, and give this information to the squads already at the mine so they can identify any rebels who are still there. Have them confirm that everyone in custody is a mine employee, as well – I believe the rebels here have a base, separate from the mine itself. Organize a search of the area north of the mine. I will meet you on the bridge shortly.”

“Yes, sir,” Pellaeon replied with a nod. They parted ways in different directions, Pellaeon taking the most direct route to the bridge, and Thrawn to his quarters. His quarters were close, only two levels up, so he got there quickly enough. Just as Pellaeon had said, they were visibly untouched, though the layer of dust one might suspect from the length of his absence wasn't there, thanks to the usual rounds of the cleaning droids. A more in-depth inspection confirmed it, and Thrawn made a detour to the 'fresher before anything else. Between being injured, hiking a considerable distance through heavy snow, and sleeping in Kothe's warm workshop while he was still wearing his heavy coat, he'd worked up a sweat that was now becoming uncomfortable. Removing the bacta patch revealed a smooth section of skin, as if the wound had never been there. His arm and shoulder felt better than they had since before he'd arrived on Nuxena, which made him optimistic that a similar application of bacta would help his leg as well. That was something for later, though.

Thrawn redressed in his usual white uniform, and the final piece that had been missing during his time on Nuxena clicked into place, leaving him feeling more like himself than he had in awhile. He exited his quarters, making directly for the bridge. When he arrived, Pellaeon was there waiting, looking through the viewport at Nuxena. It was much the same as when Thrawn had arrived, the key difference being that there was a solid blanket of white over all but a few thin splotches at the moon's equator. Pellaeon looked up as Thrawn approached, turning slightly to face him when he stopped next to the captain.

“Have there been any changes, Captain?” Thrawn asked. He was handed a datapad, different from the one he'd handed over earlier. He glanced over it as Pellaeon summarized its contents.

“All but two of the identified rebels have been captured, along with three additional individuals that are not listed as mine employees, or as citizens of Nuxena,” he informed him.

“I see,” Thrawn said. “Has their base been located?” He handed the datapad back, looking down at the moon himself.

“We believe we've found it,” Pellaeon answered, “We've sent an additional squad to investigate. There's also been no activity around the town's perimeter.” Thrawn crossed his arms, holding his chin while his eyes narrowed in thought.

“Perform a cursory search of the town,” he finally said, “You can ignore the mechanic's shop. The owner is directly employed by Governor Morastus, and obtained the information about the mine at her direction.” Pellaeon nodded, giving the order to be communicated to the troopers in town. “Where are the current rebels being kept?”

“They've been restrained, and placed in the hold of one of our shuttles on the ground,” Pellaeon told him. Thrawn hummed at that.

“Transport them to the _Chimaera's_ brig. There's no need to give our remaining two known rebels, or any sympathetic parties, a chance to free them.” Thrawn gazed at the white surface, virtually unbroken by clouds, deep in thought. “Intercept all communications coming to or from the moon as well,” he added, “We don't know how well equipped these rebels are, and it would be unwise to underestimate them.”

“Of course,” Pellaeon replied, sending this new set of orders out along with the first.

The next hour passed quickly, between coordinating the operation on the moon, and analyzing the data he received from their forces on the ground. Near the end of it, they intercepted and jammed an attempted signal out. Though they couldn't immediately crack the encryption, they'd been able to trace it, which had led them to the last two named rebels unaccounted for, Cos Juna and Tokrin Zorabos. Zorabos had surrendered the second a blaster had been aimed at him, which matched the estimation Thrawn had taken of the man during their brief meeting. Juna had put up a fight, and had to be stunned before they'd been able to take him into custody. The squad of stormtroopers had, in fact, found the secondary rebel base a few miles northeast of the mine proper. The other tunnel under Tokrin Zorabos' office had led directly to it, and the three remaining rebels inside had been taken without much trouble. Now, they were all being held in the ship's brig, ready to be questioned.

With the situation under control, Thrawn now had the dubious pleasure of contacting the Emperor. He'd order all but three stormtrooper squads to return to the ship, leaving one in perimeter around Nuxena, another to keep the mine secure, and the last to lay in wait at the secondary base, in case there were anymore rebels they'd missed that tried to use the long distance transmitter there. The transmission they'd stopped hadn't gotten far enough for them to be able to determine it's destination or intended recipient, but it had been decrypted, and revealed to be a call for help and a warning all rolled into one. It was just as well that they'd intercepted it; it was unlikely that any of the other rebel cells would have been in a position to help, but now they could possibly use the information taken from these rebels to entrap others. Thrawn took a deep, steadying breath. There was no benefit to putting it off any longer, so he left the bridge to contact Emperor Palpatine.

* * *

 

Thrawn exited the holocomm room, letting out a breath. That had gone better than he'd anticipated. It was clear to him now that Palpatine hadn't known about the rebels when he'd sent Thrawn here, and it had only been a 'happy' accident. His survival hadn't been revealed to the _Chimaera's_ crew because it was still a secret being kept from the rest of the galaxy. The Emperor evidently had some plan in mind that necessitated the continued subterfuge, and as a result, the _Chimaera_ and her crew would be staying in effective exile at Nuxena, overseeing the mining operation there. Pellaeon and some of the other upper-level officers would likely find this frustrating, but Thrawn wasn't going to complain: he could do with a bit more recovery time, to hopefully get his leg completely healed. While he could very well maintain command as he was, he wasn't comfortable with the idea of not being in full fighting form at the same time.

He still needed to inform Pellaeon and the crew of the fact that they'd be staying and he was sure the captain would become impatient about being left in the dark for so long if he didn't explain things before the day was out. For now though, it seemed prudent to retrieve Liryn and assure her that the rebels had been removed from Nuxena with minimal stress on its inhabitants. She'd seemed unoptimistic that things would go well, and he'd rather not leave her to the thought for longer than necessary. He reached the room she'd been given, finding Lieutenant Jarrde gone. The room itself was empty as well, save for a pile of the clothes Liryn had been wearing when they'd arrived. Thrawn tilted his head, allowing the door to close as he left, pulling out his comm and calling the lieutenant.

“Lieutenant Jarrde,” the man's voice answered.

“This is Grand Admiral Thrawn, Lieutenant,” he said, “What is the Governor's location?”

“Ah, we're in the canteen, sir. The Governor said she was hungry,” Jarrde answered, the indistinct sound of conversation filtering in briefly from his surroundings. It nearly disguised the nervousness in his voice, but Thrawn still managed to catch it.

“I see. Thank you, Lieutenant.” Thrawn hung up, starting towards the canteen. Reaching it required him taking a lift down a level, but he got there within ten minutes. He'd assumed the canteen would be full, based on the sound over the comm, but there was only one table occupied, with Lieutenant Jarrde sitting a few tables away looking vaguely uncomfortable. The occupied table consisted of Liryn, as well as a handful of the ship's female lieutenants and lieutenant-commanders. The majority of the attention seemed to be focused on Kiran, who was basking in all the attention focused on him. Liryn had been supplied with an appropriately sized officer's uniform, though she'd forgone the hat and jacket, leaving her in just the pants, boots, and a light undershirt. Jarrde looked over and spotted him, jumping up and marching over, looking nervous.

“Hello, sir,” he said, stopping to stand at attention. He'd evidently been correct to assume word of his return would spread quickly, because when the officers at the table noticed him, they all calmly stood up to attention as well, with a chorused 'sir'.

“At ease,” he said with a wave of his hand, approaching the table. The group all relaxed, seating themselves again, only requiring a pitiful look from the strill to return to lavishing him with attention. Liryn was staring at him with wide eyes, blinking rapidly with a light flush as he turned his attention to her. “I trust you have been treated well, Governor?” Thrawn could tell the title felt awkward to her still, but she nodded.

“Yes, everyone has been very helpful,” she said, glancing at a nearly jellified Kiran with a small grin.

“Excellent,” he said, glancing at the strill himself. “May I have a word?” Liryn looked at him, then back to Kiran once more, before she nodded and stood.

“Sure,” she said, following him out of the room. He took them to one of the less popular observation decks, slowing to a leisurely stroll once they got there.

“You'll be pleased to hear that the rebels have been removed from Nuxena,” Thrawn told her, and Liryn looked up at him.

“Oh? That's good,” she said, still sounding a bit unenthusiastic.

“Yes,” he continued, “I've also been informed that your citizens were all very cooperative. I'm sure you'll hear no complaints from them over this incident.” That elicited more of a reaction, and she let out a relieved breath.

“You know, I was really worried that something would go wrong. I'm so glad it didn't,” Liryn said. The conversation paused for a moment as she stopped, looking out the viewscreen. The moon's orbit and the _Chimaera's_ placement put Nuxena against the backdrop of an open galaxy, the stark white of it's surface almost glowing in contrast to the inky darkness of space around it. Then she looked back at him, giving him a once over.

“It's weird seeing you in a uniform,” she said, head cocked a little to one side. Thrawn looked her over as well, tilting his own head slightly.

“I could say the same,” he replied, and it was true. He'd only ever seen her in the thick, warm clothing necessary for Nuxena's winter climate. The fitted lines of the officer's uniform, at least what of it she was wearing, did very complementary things for her otherwise slight figure. Liryn laughed at his response, automatically covering her mouth as if to stifle the sound.

“Well, it doesn't look bad on you,” she said, then she abruptly sobered with a sigh. “So, how much is the Empire moving in?” She said this with a tired resignation, like she was bracing for the worst news she'd ever get. Thrawn stared at her for a moment before answering, but she was looking back out the viewscreen, refusing to meet his eyes.

“The Emperor has informed me that the _Chimaera_ and her crew will be staying here for the foreseeable future,” he finally said, and Liryn sighed, like it was what she'd been expecting. “However, apart from assigning a squad of stormtroopers to the mine for added security, and keeping a closer watch on it's activities, there will be no permanently stationed forces.” Her head snapped up at this, and looked at him with wide, disbelieving eyes.

“What?” she asked, and he kept his gaze steady on her.

“I would of course ask that with your permission, cleared personnel be allowed to take leave in town,” he continued, “And we will inspect incoming shipments to ensure rebels are not attempting to infiltrate the mine again. Otherwise, I see no reason to impose on your hospitality.” Liryn continued to stare, understanding dawning on her face. Thrawn tried to keep a straight face, but he couldn't help the tiny smile that worked its way onto his face. Then, so suddenly he wasn't able to do much more than unclasp his hands from behind his back, Liryn had thrown her arms around his neck, using it as leverage to pull herself onto the tips of her toes and kiss him. For a moment, he stood there frozen, hands hovering on either side of her as he processed what had happened. His brain finally caught up, and he lightly settled both hands at the small of her back, leaning down so she wasn't straining so much. He lost track of how much time passed as he kissed her back, but it couldn't have been more than a few minutes before it came to a natural end, and she pulled back.

“Thank you,” she said quietly, face no more than a few inches from his and flushed a heavy pink.

“It was no trouble,” he said, still a bit dazed himself from the suddenness of the whole thing. Liryn's mouth quirked into a grin and she leaned in to bury her face in his shoulder, attempting to muffle a snort of laughter. The angle he was bent at to allow this was a little awkward, but he didn't care enough to move and dislodge her. She pulled back again once she'd stopped, and this time he was the one that leaned in to kiss her. No, Thrawn certainly didn't mind the prospect of staying at Nuxena for a while longer.


End file.
